29. Snaptrip

Founders: Matt Fox and Dan Harrison
Founded: January 2014
Website: www.snaptrip.com

Having worked in the holiday rental sector for a number of years Matt Fox and Dan Harrison were well aware that home owners would be more than happy to offer significant discounts on the price of their properties for late bookings (rather than leave them empty).

With holidaymakers always keen to snag a good deal, they knew they could connect the two together and set about launching last year’s Startups 100-listed Snaptrip, which placed 92^nd in the index. The online marketplace enables users to book spontaneous, last-minute getaways to more than 40,000 self-catering properties in the UK for up to 50% off the original price. Results can be filtered by destination, amenities and whether they allow pets or not, so holidaymakers can find something that exactly suits their needs.

The company takes a commission on the value of every sale, which is structured so that the closer the booking is to departure the greater the commission. Snaptrip says it has secured partnerships with some of the biggest management agencies in the sector and offers exclusive pricing on half of the properties in its portfolio to make sure its users get a good deal.

Fuelled by £2.2m in equity funding and with very impressive revenue projections for this year, Snaptrip has big plans for the next 12 months. Through the addition of more properties, ramping up marketing and investing in its website the founders are looking not only for further growth but to reach profitability by 2017.