29. Swiipr: airline compensation in one card swipe Delayed at the airport? Swiipr provides an alternative to airline recompense with its instant, prepaid compensation cards. About the Startups 100 Now in its 17th year, the Startups 100 is the definitive list of the most promising new UK businesses. There's no fee for entry or for inclusion in our index. The Startups team of new business experts judge all our top 100 entrants in collaboration with specialist industry consultants. See our guide to this year’s hottest new businesses and most exceptional founders in the complete 2025 Startups 100 index. Founders: Tara Spielhagen and Ian Clowes Year founded: 2019Website: swiipr.comWho in the UK now doesn’t have a nightmare airport story? Flight delays, luggage losses, and denied boardings inconvenience millions of passengers every year. And what do they get for their troubles? A flimsy paper voucher or a bank transfer that takes months to arrive.Fasten your seatbelts, folks, because Swiipr is a new startup that’s hit the runway to disrupt the outdated and frustrating airline compensation system. Rather than just a muttered apology from eye-averting flight attendants, with Swiipr, passengers affected by a flight issue are handed a prepaid physical (or virtual, if preferred) Swiipr card. This can then instantly be spent on food and beverages (F&B) at the airport.Tara Spielhagen had the idea for the business after being stranded at the airport due to a cancelled flight (where else?). She and cofounder, fintech expert Ian Clowes realised they could “uber-fy” the compensation process by trading in legacy pay-outs for one, digital app.“While we couldn’t control disruption, we could cushion the impact to passengers and ensure they were communicated to and financially helped when it really mattered”, she says.Crucially, Swiipr gives consumers choice. It can be used at any airport F&B chain, pharmacy, or newsagent that accepts Mastercard. That means aviation victims won’t be left staring at one petrol station chain’s moulding meal deal selection — a sorry situation that I once found myself in after a rerouted flight home from Croatia. Swiipr’s innovative payment solution could improve the travel experience for millions of passengers. But it will also help to address a key customer service challenge for airlines, which is why 26 airlines across 70 countries have already bought into the business.That impressive takeoff has also won investors, and Swiipr secured £6m in Series A funding in May last year. With its current flight path, we’ve no doubt it will stick the landing in 2025. The 2025 Startups 100 List in Full 1 Lottie 2 Robin AI 3 Yonder 4 HIVED 5 Gaia 6 Runna 7 Quantum Dice 8 Hoxton Farms 9 MAGIC AI 10 Eolas Medical 11 DRIFT Energy 12 Audiomob 13 Lindus Health 14 FYLD 15 Zero Gravity 16 Vikela 17 ToffeeX 18 Bio&Me 19 Strolll 20 Triple Technologies 21 UNDO Carbon 22 KOMI 23 Untap 24 Novai 25 Omni Pet 26 Sona 27 Fin Sustainable Logistics 28 trumpet 29 Swiipr Technologies 30 Cerbos 31 By Rotation 32 Open Climate Fix 33 Howbout 34 cheqd 35 Seep 36 Oort Energy 37 Walking on Earth 38 Flexa 39 HutanBio 40 Primer 41 Black Seed Ventures 42 Sharesy 43 Made With Intent 44 Userled 45 Zeti 46 Luna Daily 47 Deploy Tech 48 PulpaTronics 49 Metris Energy 50 VoltShare 51 NOQ Group 52 Hormona 53 Unify AI 54 The Seam 55 Siloton 56 SURREAL 57 Valarian Technologies 58 Papaya Technologies 59 PEEQUAL 60 PlantSea 61 Bloom Money 62 Tonic Health 63 Stored. 64 Cult Mia 65 Atlantic Money 66 facia.ai 67 RideTandem 68 Monk 69 STOCKED 70 IMPOSSIBREW 71 Mindgard 72 Grub Club Pets 73 Financielle 74 Outverse 75 Automated Architecture 76 Freja 77 Purple Transform 78 Lumi 79 Storekit 80 Unfabled 81 Asan Wellness 82 Mach42 83 seedata.io 84 Peachies 85 Nugget Savings 86 Enbiosis Biotechnology 87 Swoperz 88 growze 89 ekko 90 Tunic Pay 91 SKIN 92 Cashblack 93 TaskHer 94 XR Therapeutics 95 Alyve 96 UJJI AI 97 Volunteero 98 SuperFi 99 PharmAppy 100 Cogs AI See more Share this post facebook twitter linkedin Tags 2025