Venture Funded Business of the Year 2015: Meet the finalists

A sense of adventure and an appetite for risk help to define the individuals and institutions that plough their capital into early stage companies.

And boosted by investment we expect to see strong evidence of rapid revenue growth in the Venture-funded Business of the Year, sponsored by Chartered Accountancy firm haysmacintyre.

Sharing their investors’ desire to be placed among the biggest and best in their markets, our six finalists entries did not disappoint. With combined revenues comfortably in the tens of millions already, we’ll be seeing lots more of these businesses in the years to come.

Housekeep

The online booking platform for professional home cleaners has raised $1m in VC backing. Along with secure key collection, tracking and a £2m insurance policy, the company ensures the same cleaner is sent to your home every time to ensure a regular and reliable service.

View the full profile here.

Gousto

Delivers recipe boxes to time starved foodies with the exact ingredients they need to make quality meals. Having secured $30m across four VC rounds, it has seen 100% revenue growth every six months, and has an app in Beta with Apple.

View the full profile here.

SportPursuit

The UK’s largest flash sales shopping site with over 1.8 million customers worldwide, and sales of over 500,000 items in 2014. Backed by over £5m in equity funding, it sells kit from leading brands such as Puma and Asics at up to 70% off RRP in seven day sales.

View the full profile here.

MOVE Guides

Cloud-based talent mobility platform which supports businesses with employee moves, help to integrate payments and automate workflows. Backed by $8.2m in Series A funding, the start-up has grown to a team of 80 and has offices in London, New York, San Francisco and Hong Kong.

View the full profile here.

Appear Here

The online marketplace for short-term retail space enables landlords and start-ups to lease and rent flexible space in key retail locations around the country. More than 1,000 spaces are currently listed on the site and, having recently bagged $7.5m equity investment, international expansion is on the cards.

View the full profile here.

Purple Bricks

The world’s first 24/7 estate agency which enables customers to arrange viewings, book a local property expert and make an offer on a property from any device, anywhere in the world, at anytime. The business secured £7m in a round led by Neil Woodford CBE last year and has already taken 61% of the national online housing market.

View the full profile here.