98. Pioneering People Ltd Pioneering People connects verified flexible workers with businesses who’ll pay them fairly and on the same day as the job. Written by Helena Young Sponsored by Sage Published on January 12, 2026 About the Startups 100 Now in its 18th 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 2026 Startups 100 index. Founder: Rita KastratiYear founded: 2022Website: pioneering-people.comWhen the world shut down in 2020, Rita Kastrati started volunteering at the North Kensington Community Kitchen. She was in her final year at university and could commit 50 hours a week to deliver meals to people who were shielding and couldn’t leave their homes.At first, it was just about dropping off food, but Kastrati quickly realised people needed conversation too – and the lack of fair, flexible work kept coming up. Many of the people she met were in and out of employment, or struggling with health conditions that meant they couldn’t commit to fixed schedules.She never forgot about those chats, and two years later, Kastrati founded Pioneering People. It’s a platform that supports flexible workers, connecting them with businesses that pay on the same day and offer good wages, transparent conditions, and respect for the work they do. The startup guarantees that workers won’t pay any fees, and that they’ll be paid a minimum rate of £14 per hour.The platform handles everything from instant ID verification and right-to-work checks to same-day payments, and facilitates direct messaging between workers and businesses.Kastrati tells us that the biggest challenge in creating Pioneering People was bringing so many essential features under one roof and making them work seamlessly together. She overcame this by building carefully, testing constantly, and refining every detail until the platform felt simple and reliable.Pioneering People is backed by a group of angel investors whose experience spans across recruitment, technology, and retail. The platform has also established partnerships with innovative, fast-growing brands such as Thursday, Jumpstart, Pan ‘n’ Ice, Mixtons, and others who require instant access to high-quality but temporary staff.Looking to the future, Kastrati’s goal is for Pioneering People to become the go-to platform for gig work, reshaping the industry by ensuring businesses have instant access to reliable workers, and that workers have fair opportunities and easy access to their earnings.View the full Startups 100 Index for 20261. Omnea2. HIVED3. MAGIC AI4. OXCCU5. Lightyear6. Neuranics 7. Hormona8. Burbank9. Better Dairy 10. Lenkie Technologies11. Userled12. Hoxton Farms13. Rensair14. PulpaTronics15. TradeKart16. 32Co17. Carmoola18. cheqd19. Sightline Analytics20. Adamo Foods21. Bold Bean Co22. Beams Renovation 23. Pan Galactic24. Capi Money25. Spotted Zebra26. ANTHROTEK 27. Unravel28. Perci Health29. Untap Health30. Hair Syrup31. Connect Earth 32. spacebands 33. Unfabled34. Lightning Reach35. STOCKED36. Embeddable37. XR Therapeutics38. Literal Labs39. Scooch40. Openr41. Fibe Limited42. Inicio AI43. Peachies44. Better Nature 45. Ctrl Alt46. Resting Reef47. Nila48. ROXFIT49. Finmile50. NavLive51. Volunteero52. Inntelo AI53. Zonova54. A&B Smart Materials55. Ethicronics56. Treeapp57. kennek58. Soil Benchmark59. Vox Aeris60. Asan Cup61. Nuuri62. Mindstone63. MYNDUP64. Enbiosis Biotechnology65. JUX Food66. Danu Robotics67. Wylde Market68. Air Aware Labs69. Mimicrete Ltd70. ALYVE71. Happl72. Living Things73. Grub Club Pets74. Mealia75. PetProov76. Lylo Products77. Chest78. ZIM Connections79. Uptime Labs80. Teal81. Zero Fintech82. Micro Thermal Energy 83. Kanjo 84. Merlin Cloud85. My Skin Feels86. Eleria87. Cashblack88. RevvedUp89. Cosysense90. SuperFi91. Loom92. Legacy Compass93. Meshed94. SWURF95. Main Squeeze96. Sampl Technologies97. Over the Moo98. Pioneering People99. Bikebook100. Recondition Share this post facebook twitter linkedin Tags 2026 Written by: Helena Young Deputy Editor Helena is Deputy Editor at Startups. She oversees all news and supporting content on Startups, and is also the author of the weekly Startups email newsletter, delivering must-know SME updates straight to their inbox. From interviewing Wetherspoon's boss Tim Martin to spotting data-led working from home trends, her insight has been featured by major trade publications including the ICAEW, and news outlets like the BBC, ITV News, Daily Express, and HuffPost UK. With a background in PR and marketing, Helena is particularly passionate about giving early-stage startups a platform to boost their brands. That's one reason she manages the Startups 100 Index, our annual ranking of new UK businesses. Sponsored by: Sage Startups 100 Index Sponsor 2026 Sage exists to knock down barriers so everyone can thrive, starting with the millions of Small and Mid-Sized Businesses served by us, our partners and accountants. Customers trust our finance, HR and payroll software to make work and money flow. By digitising business processes and relationships with customers, suppliers, employees, banks and governments, our digital network connects SMBs, removing friction and delivering insights. Knocking down barriers also means we use our time, technology and experience to tackle digital inequality, economic inequality and the climate crisis.