35. STOCKED STOCKED offers frozen, portioned meals in handy blocks that can be mixed, matched and reheated in minutes – cutting down on food waste and plastic use. 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. Founders: Sam Moss and Charlie GilpinYear founded: 2020Website: stockedfood.comLife is hectic for many, and more often than not, people simply don’t have the time to make fresh meals from scratch.Founder Sam Moss understood this lifestyle. His busy career as a consultant meant he was spending time on weekends batch-cooking meals, which led to his space being filled with tupperware, and used ziploc bags ending up in the bin.But it was a conversation with his mum that sparked a new business idea. After she told him that she used to freeze his food into ice cube trays as a baby, Moss saw an opportunity to find a smarter way to prepare and store meals.Moss quickly discovered the benefits of freezing food this way. It saved space, used less plastic, was faster to heat up, and allowed for flexible portions. With this new revelation, STOCKED was born.The idea behind STOCKED is straightforward. All you have to do is choose and order your meals online, and they’ll be delivered to your door.However, beyond convenience, STOCKED is also on a mission to minimise food waste in the UK, as well as offer an alternative to traditional ready-made meals and meal kits.While subscription recipe boxes are convenient, their short shelf lives often lead to wasted food and packaging – a major contributor to 70% of the UK’s food waste coming from households.Moss’ novel idea and solution to this problem saw him and co-founder Charlie Gilpin appearing on Series 21 of the BBC show Dragons’ Den. After a successful business pitch, the pair successfully secured a £50,000 investment from Steven Bartlett.And STOCKED hasn’t slowed down since. In 2025 alone, it became the second highest-selling frozen ready-meal brand on Ocado, sold its millionth meal block, and acquired $1.3m in seed funding from investment firm Active Partners in August 2025.These incredible milestones have seen STOCKED soar up to 35th place in this year’s index. With its plans to widen its retail distribution, this incredible company is set to change the way we see frozen food – one delicious, waste-free meal at a time.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.