1. Bulb

Founders: Hayden Wood and Amit Gudka
Founded: August 2015 (Launched April 2016)
Website: bulb.co.uk

Inefficiency. Poor service. Expensive tariffs. There’s no prizes for guessing which outdated industry that describes.

For Hayden Wood and Amit Gudka, these were just some of the issues they wanted to rectify in the energy market.

Having worked in the sector, and witnessed first-hand how improvements could be made, they decided it was about time that an independent business took on the Big Six to bring clean and affordable energy to British households.

Their solution? Bulb, a technology-led energy supplier providing 100% renewable electricity and 10% green gas.

Launched in April 2016, Wood and Gudka’s lightbulb business idea gained huge momentum early on, securing over 30,000 customers with prices 20% lower than its competitors. And it was this staggering growth which saw the business rank among the top 10 in the Startups 100 2017.

One year on and Bulb’s customer numbers have skyrocketed by 10 times – buoyed by a team of 104 – meaning the business now supplies energy to more than 300,000 homes in Britain.

This figure equates to 1% of the energy market or, to give a better idea of the scale of Bulb’s impact, enough homes to fill the size of Leeds.

Oh, and did we mention that Bulb is now the number one rated supplier on Trustpilot?

These are all amazing feats for a business in its infancy, particularly when you consider the dominance of the Big Six, and proof that the start-up is a deserving recipient of the esteemed number one position in the Startups 100 2018.

Having also won judges hearts at the Startups Awards 2017 scooping the overall prize of The Start-Up Loans Start-up of the Year, Bulb is keen to do the same with consumers and wants to get more of the public on side by putting customer service first.

For instance, Bulb has publicly promised to add £10 to a member’s account if they have to wait more than five minutes on the phone or if an email takes longer than five working days to garner a response.

Customer happiness also features heavily in the start-up’s plans for the next year. Over the coming months, the start-up will be launching new products including a pre-pay offer so that customers can access affordable renewable energy.

Bulb believes “business can be a force for good” and is “out to show that to the world”. That’s a cause we’re happy to get behind.