25 years of Startups.co.uk

Back in 2000, our founder, David Lester, launched Startups.co.uk with a goal to champion entrepreneurs and help them to avoid the mistakes he made in his own business journey. 

We’ve stayed true to this vision by sharing the early origin stories of what are now some of the UK’s most valuable companies; often before anyone else was willing to give them a chance.

Below, we’ve organised thousands of these stories into a comprehensive archive of startup history.

Spanning two and a half decades of blogs, interviews, awards, and accounts, it offers a complete overview for what it’s like to be an entrepreneur in the UK this century.

Who we are

The Startups.co.uk editorial team 

At Startups, our mission is simple: to empower aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners across the UK to turn their ideas into reality.

We believe that with the right guidance, resources, and inspiration, anyone can build a successful business — and we’re here to make that journey easier for you.

Our readers are ambitious entrepreneurs, side hustlers, freelancers, and small business owners at every stage of their journey.

From business plans and funding advice to practical guides to marketing, operations, and technology, we provide clear, actionable content designed to help.

We also feature real-world success stories, insights into the latest trends, and practical tips for navigating challenges.

Startups: our history

Here’s a quick look at the ups and downs UK startups have faced over the past 20 years, and how we’ve supported them every step of the way.

2000

The new millennium is a time of optimism for startups following the dot com boom. But with ideas developing faster than the tech infrastructure, the crash comes quickly in March 2000. 

Startups.co.uk launches at this low point, when our founder David Lester decides to create a new online hub to support SMEs. It’s a great fit for a serial entrepreneur – Lester started his first business at 22 and sold it for millions before he was 30. 

Startups immediately becomes one of the UK’s most popular independent websites for small firms; an early example of how the troubled trading environment provides space for innovative internet newcomers to thrive. 

In our Successful Entrepreneurs interview series, we speak to other e-brands like JustGiving, Mumsnet, Moonpig and Lastminute.com, which are also on the cusp of becoming internet giants.

We also begin publishing our hugely successful ‘How To’ guides, which provide step-by-step instructions on how to start a business.

Over the next 25 years, we’ll help millions to take their first steps in business, whether they’re opening up a shop or setting up a consultancy business.

2003

Following a difficult few years, the global economy rebounds. The UK market continues to outperform the US and Europe.

Many fast-growth startups arrive on the scene, buoyed by this optimism. The first profile in our Just Started series, which celebrates new UK firms that are less than one year old, is published. 

Over the next two decades, Just Started will introduce the world to brands like Tide, Dash Water, Crowdcube, Ovo Energy, and even our 2025 Startups 100 Index winner, Lottie.

Plus, we publish our first Young Guns Index, to identify the UK’s most promising entrepreneurial talent aged under 35, including Karren Brady. Young Guns begins eight years before Forbes releases its first 30 under 30 list.

2005

With so much hot new business talent arriving on the scene, it’s not long before TV land looks to cash in.

In 2005, the UK gets its first glimpse at a new BBC TV show, and we can never look at a row of black leather chairs the same way. Dragons’ Den airs on BBC Two on 4 January.

Series one features a host of soon-to-be six-figure business ideas including Startups alumni Trunki, and a very young-looking Levi Roots, of Reggae Reggae Sauce.

One month later, the entrepreneur takeover of the silver screen is definitive after The Apprentice launches on BBC Two in February.

For series one, the winner is Tim Campbell, who will later return as judge. Ten years on, The Apprentice’s most successful candidate, Mark Wright, will make Young Guns in 2015.

2007

Steve Jobs’ turtlenecks dominate the headlines in 2007 after Apple launches its first iPhone.

The iPhone will mark the most significant shift for the business world in years, introducing entrepreneurs to the smartphone and a new, mobile world for consumer tech.

Over the next decade, this ripple effect will help to birth some of the UK’s most valuable new businesses including delivery app Deliveroo, runner-up in our 2015 Startups 100 Index.

Also this year, the credit crunch begins. The run on Northern Rock—the first on a British bank in more than a century—starts in September as customers flock to withdraw cash.

2008

The UK suffers its worst recession since World War 2. GDP shrinks by 6% over six consecutive quarters.

The US investment bank Lehman Brothers collapses, sparking a global financial crash. Stock markets tumble across the world and banks have to be bailed out.

It’s an immensely difficult time for business owners, and many companies are forced to close.

Like the dot com bubble, though, the subsequent recession provides fertile ground for innovators and new startups, and we’re right there alongside them with our lists of new business ideas.

In the same year, we publish our inaugural Startups 100 Index, celebrating the 100 most disruptive businesses founded in the past five years.

Our first ever winner is Beatthatquote.com, a price comparison website which will go on to be acquired by Google in 2013 for £37.7m. Two other future Startups 100 successes launch this year, including punk brewer BrewDog and million-pound marketplace Zoopla.

2010

In 2010, Instagram launches, and the reign of social media begins.

The Startups 100 Index will soon be overloaded with smart ventures that capitalise on the wave, including a baby-faced Steven Bartlett and his firm Social Chain. 

Instagram also provides a new route for the YouTube generation to monetise their following, meaning 2010 signals the beginning of the influencer craze. In our Young Entrepreneurs series, we highlight content creators like Zoella and Alfie Deyes. 

Also in 2010, another future UK unicorn is founded when money transfer startup Transferwise (now Wise) comes onto the scene. The fintech will go on to be named in the Startups 100 Index in 2012. 

2015

2015 is the year that fintech enters the mainstream, as Venture Capital (VC) funds scramble to get in on the trend.

Midway through the decade, fintech finally hatches. Investment into London’s financial technology businesses surges dramatically as traditional banks look to innovate.

Savvy business leaders take notice. Two challenger banking companies called Monzo and Revolut launch within just three months of each other. 

Both businesses will go on to claim billion-pound valuations and feature in the Startups 100 Index on multiple occasions, cementing the UK’s status as a fintech leader.

2016

On June 24 2016, the Leave campaign wins the Brexit referendum.

After years of global economic decline, bubbling public discontent delivers two shock results in the polls. Donald Trump defies almost all predictions to become President of the United States. And the UK votes to leave the EU.

The UK’s decision to leave the European Union will affect the UK economy for decades to come. In the short-term, the pound falls sharply.

But the main, long-term impact for businesses is uncertainty. Firms begin Brexit planning, with many looking to expand operations into Europe, but negotiations with the EU drag on.

The Brexit deal will take four more years to complete, by which time, another geopolitical event will have taken over the headlines…

2020

Startups.co.uk celebrates its twentieth anniversary with the Startups 20.

Out of hundreds of firms featured on the site, we spotlight the 20 most influential from the past two decades, including two brands that are about to win big in the pandemic: Deliveroo and Gymshark.

The next 20 years look less certain though, as in March 2020, the first national COVID-19 lockdown sends every sector into a tailspin. 

High streets are forced shut, resulting in a decline that many may never recover from. Offices are closed, and international trading halts.

As workers settle into a work from home pattern, the first post-pandemic crop of businesses enters the Startups 100 Index, including Trouva, Gousto, and Cera Care.

Stuck at home and potentially also furloughed, some also start their own businesses. Thousands of Brits register as sole traders as they seek out more control of their careers amid the rise in flexible working.

2021

COVID-19 restrictions end, and the new normal begins.

After Freedom Day in July, entrepreneurs undergo a slow crawl to recovery which some, particularly retail and hospitality firms, are still undergoing.

Out of hibernation, business owners begin to contend with how the working world has changed. New priorities lead to a surge in the number of sustainable startups, while consumer brands face new demand for wellness.

These changing customer needs trigger further innovation. Startups continues to publish the Startups 100 Index, celebrating these new ventures and giving a much-needed boost to the UK’s struggling startup scene.

But post-COVID inflation, labour shortages from Brexit, and the ongoing Ukraine conflict combine to result in a cost of living crisis that curbs growth for many scaling businesses.

2023

After a late arrival at the end of 2022, ChatGPT mania turns business attentions to AI.

Generative AI becomes an internet sensation in 2023 after the Silicon Valley organisation Open AI brings ChatGPT out of stealth mode.

Able to hold real conversations with users, it proves instantly popular with consumers and sends tech firms scrambling to produce their own alternatives — like Google’s Bard, which launches in March.

Concerns about regulation naturally follow. In response, the UK government hosts the world’s first AI safety summit. But innovation moves faster.

Investors begin hunting for new AI startups, and in 2024, we crown content moderation tool Unitary as our first Startups 100 AI winner.

We also unveil our Speaking of Startups podcast and weekly email newsletter to report on future workplace and industry trends that will shape the next era for UK business. 

Looking ahead

AI hype continues to dominate funding cycles, but we’re here to give businesses genuine insights based on data, not hunches.

2025 will be a challenging year for businesses. Amid a gloomy economic outlook and a raft of incoming HR reforms from the Labour government, employers are facing a mix of legislative and financial challenges.

In April, we published our free Workforce Report. We surveyed 531 UK SME leaders to explore the key trends shaping workforces this year, and discover how they can strike a happy medium in an extreme business environment.

We also launched Startup Daddy, our new column from MAGIC AI founder Varun Bhanot, who talks about the highs and lows of juggling two very different roles: CEO and new father.

True to the vision of our founder David Lester, we’re cutting through the information overload to deliver genuine, human-led, and data-backed insights — helping leaders make confident decisions and avoid costly mistakes.