29. Homethings

Sustainability Award Shortlisted

Whether in its business operations or its business model, the winning startup will be a sustainability leader that prioritises the health of the planet as part of its company mission.

Startups 100: Sustainability Awards

Founders: Tim Keaveney and Matthew Aubrey
Founded: 2020
Website: gethomethings.com

Launched in 2020, Homethings is revolutionising sustainable household cleaning products by concentrating the essentials and cutting out all the rest.

Homethings was born when Tim, its founder, noticed that cleaning products were clogging up space in his small flatshare in London. Upon further investigation, he discovered that around 800,000 million gallons of water are being shipped around the world just for the cleaning industry.

Homethings’ products are waterless, refillable, and plastic-free. Customers just need to drop a powerful, dissolvable tab into a spray bottle of tap water to get started.

While there are other eco-friendly cleaning brands that have popped up in the market, Homethings is appealing due to its logical focus on cutting waste, plus through its simple cost plan. Its smart subscription model offers a tidy saving to buyers. We also like that the brand offers room-specific products, such as its delicious-smelling lavender and more unusual tonka bean spray for bathrooms.

At worst, it's purely unsubstantiated and lazy marketing claims,” Keavney laments. “At best, there are incremental efforts that aren't fundamentally going to move the needle on the environmental crises that we face.

The startup has appeared on BBC One’s Dragons Den, receiving five offers of investment from the dragons. Its earliest investments came from family and friends, and now Homethings receives funding from partners such as Innovate UK. It even won a £250k grant from The Times Earth fund.

The business is a certified B-Corp, having achieved an absolutely huge score of 95.4 on the B Impact assessment, so Homethings can feel particularly proud of its green credentials. Founder Tim Keavney is tired of other ‘eco-friendly’ organisations staining the industry, and laments the homecare industry for being “fraught with greenwashing from brands.”

“At worst, it’s purely unsubstantiated and lazy marketing claims,” Keavney laments. “At best, there are incremental efforts that aren’t fundamentally going to move the needle on the environmental crises that we face”.

An impressive social media following of almost 20k shows that the Homethings green and clean community is blooming fast. The company is committed to becoming a household name in the UK by 2027. Here at Startups, we’ll certainly be spreading the word.