39. goo.ey

Founder: Rachel Verghis
Founded: May 2013 (launched January 2014)
Website: http://www.gooeyhq.com/uk

A former art collector, Rachel Verghis’ vision is to “blend creativity with the latest digital case technology” and this vision has been realised with goo.ey.

A manufacturer of innovative phone skins that can be attached to glossy surfaces such as glass or a mirror, goo.ey is becoming one of the must-have products for young people that are passionate about tech, art and fashion, and its smartphone skins are now sold in 23 countries.

Verghis came up with the idea after looking for a way to attach her iPad Mini to a nursery window so that her parents in Australia could watch her baby playing, and 18 months since launch her idea has developed into a fast-growing business.

The company recently teamed up with high-profile fashion designer and Young Gun Sophia Webster for a collection of ‘speech bubble’ mobile cases, and her collaboration with Chinese artist Ai WeiWei has received praise for cases which combine art with activism – mobile skins include images of Martin Luther King and Edward Snowden.

With £250,000 of private equity investment, goo.ey is already profitable and turnover is set to almost quadruple by the end of this year. Looking to the future, Verghis is eying up expansion in the US and says she’s already in talks with the likes of Walmart and Target. Could this be the next big product start-up to come out of Britain?