Startups 100 2019: 1 to 5

Startups 100 Ranking: 1
Company name: Revolut
Founded: 2015
Website: www.revolut.com

Sporting a new attitude to banking, our number one company for 2019 is a current account focused on making overseas spending simpler

Managing your finances abroad is never the easiest thing, especially with the hidden charges and fees implemented by banks when you leave the borders of your own home-nation. Revolut is determined to change that.

Launched in July 2015 by former Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank investment bankers, Nik Storonsky and Vlad Yatsenko, Revolut aims to simplify things by allowing customers to transfer and spend money abroad without the hassle of additional charges.

Since beginning, Revolut has further built upon this foundation by offering useful, everyday financial services such as instant payment notifications, automatic spending categorisation, budgeting tools and spare change saving tools in addition to offering opportunities to purchase and sell micro currencies.

This innovative FinTech start-up has tailored its services further to its globe-trotting market by also offering easily accessible smart device travel insurance on a pay-per-day basis without any drawn-out administrative processes.

Benefiting from enhanced security features, Revolut has garnered over four million customers in Europe alone, and is set to expand further, becoming a global bank and launching a full suite of financial services across the world.

Disruptive, innovative, and with amazing global growth potential, Revolut excels on every metric we assess when selecting the top businesses for the Startups 100. That’s why, for 2019, it’s number one.

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Startups 100 Ranking: 2
Company name: Igloo
Founded: 2017
Website: https://igloo.energy/

Stiff competition for existing utility suppliers, Igloo is an energy company with a simple mission: make their customers’ homes run efficiently, while saving the planet

The future is green, and no one knows it better than Igloo. The ethos of this innovative, creative startup is simple: use less energy and pay less money.

This might seem like a no-brainer but, surprisingly, many energy providers gain their profits by selling more energy. In contrast, Igloo have made it their goal to ensure their customers not only save precious pennies by only offering one core tariff, but also reduce their carbon emissions too.

Using smart technology based on consumption measurements and nifty algorithms, Igloo is able to produce personalised recommendations to ensure their customers’ homes are more efficient, and cheaper to maintain. It is Igloo’s aim to promote a better understanding of energy usage, altering the way that consumers regard energy-efficient products.

Igloo are proactively working to further reduce carbon impact by collaborating with Tesla. Using its Smart charging app, Tesla owners are now able to charge their cars using the greenest energy sources, reducing their environmental impact.

With a score of 8.8/10 on Trustpilot, outstanding customer service, and as the iTunes highest rated UK energy mobile app, Igloo is quickly revolutionising the energy landscape, providing a greener, customer-focused energy option.

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Startups 100 Ranking: 3
Company name: Trouva
Founded: 2015
Website: www.trouva.com

Bringing the best of homeware from around the world, Trouva is an online marketplace for independent retailers

There is something glamorously indulgent about sourcing homeware from stylish international boutiques to furnish our kitchens and living spaces. And now Trouva has made it possible to do just that from the comfort of your sofa.

Launched in 2015, Trouva is an online marketplace for retailers around the world to showcase their most covetable wares, and allows customers access to goods they might not otherwise have had access to. Even more impressively, these suppliers are not just online retailers, but actual brick-and-mortar businesses, meaning that shopping with Trouva online is similar to wandering a massive, global high-street.

It’s utilised complex technology to manage inventory logistics – the first to do so – and has been recognised for its fantastic achievements, attracting a string of awards and international renown as its concept has built momentum. This fast-growing business has built connections with beautiful independent boutiques across Europe and customers can shop the best of Berlin, Paris, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Madrid and many more, all in one place.

Not only does Trouva facilitate this retail experience, it’s also helped to support over 700 shops and boutiques, doubling profits and boosting sales through their unique online platform.

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Startups 100 Ranking: 4
Company name: Soldo
Founded: 2015
Website: www.soldo.com

Simple and sensible, Soldo allows companies to take charge of their budgets through the use of prepaid cards

Budgets can be a headache – even more so when they’re attached to large, successful businesses. However, Soldo has designed a solution that enables companies to control spending from one easy-to-manage account. Built by expert engineers, Soldo boasts a range of useful features designed to make large-scale financial management easy.

From one central account, users can move funds easily between employees using Soldo prepaid cards, setting parameters that define who can access funds, as well as tracking the overarching budget plan. To ensure appropriate spending, Soldo also allows businesses to set spending rules and offers the ability to turn a card ‘off’ at any given time.

The Soldo app allows users to check balances, receive real-time spending notifications and tag expenses; it also includes a camera feature ideal for snapping receipts which are then instantly available to administrators. Soldo even allows companies to generate expense reports for detailed insights into company spending.

Rather than replacing the need for a central bank account, Soldo works as a complementary service, saving businesses precious hours and helping them break through to new levels of productivity and profit.

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Startups 100 Ranking: 5
Company name: Elder Technologies
Founded: 2015
Website: https://www.elder.org/

Placing an emphasis on matching the right carer with the right family, Elder Technologies provides full-time home care for elderly UK citizens

London-based Elder Technologies addresses an important area of need: personalised home care for elderly citizens.

In the past, growing older was associated with a move into a care home. However, Elder offers an alternative, allowing elderly people to continue their lives in their own homes, rather than experiencing a potentially traumatic displacement.

Mindful that live-in care is a complex and personalised decision, Elder ensures that thoroughly vetted carers are matched with recipients based on personality compatibility and their individual, unique preferences. This is to ensure that the allocated carer can act as a trusted source of companionship whilst also providing invaluable services to maintain a high quality of life.

Elder currently operates in over 300 towns and cities nationwide and, unlike other care providers, works to ensure that carers are matched with recipients in as little as 24 hours, recognising the need for rapid response.

Elder carers are trained to move seamlessly into the care recipient’s home, providing a high standard of full-time care whilst also providing peace of mind for the whole family and assurances that their loved one is able to remain in the place they are happiest.