Start-up name: Salary Finance
Founders: Asesh Sarkar
Started in: July 2015
Based in: London
Business description: Financial wellbeing platform for employees

It’s a terrible state of affairs when a CEO on a six-figure salary can get a loan at 3-4% per annum, whilst their minimum-wage worker could be paying 1,000% on a payday loan.

Founded by Asesh Sarkar, Salary Finance is the business challenging this broken model by helping employees save regularly, borrow responsibly and learn better habits. It does this by partnering with progressive employers to replace their debts with a low interest loan paid off through payroll.

This ensures employees don’t have to worry about making regular deposits themselves. Money is lent at lower rates than those available on the high street and loans are limited to 20% of an employee’s salary. It claims that this allows them to pay off their debts six to 12 months sooner and save an average £600 in interest costs.

Salary Finance goes beyond that though. It also thinks that it has a responsibility to build financial understanding and knowledge, and improve financial literacy to inculcate good long-term habits. This takes the form of quick tips, original articles, detailed guides, box set video series and interactive tools on budgeting, saving and managing debt.

So why did our judges decide to name Salary Finance as The Start Up Loans Company Start-up of the Year? Combining a truly innovative idea with a vital social mission, the business is already on track to help one million employees by the end of year.

With so many of us suffering under the burden of debt for so much of our lives, anything that can help alleviate that burden is absolutely welcome. Salary Finance estimates that it can save UK employees alone £4bn in interest payments annually. Now, after raising a £55m funding round, it’s already expanding across the US and has an exclusive distribution partnership with United Way(the largest non-profit globally), reaching 100,000 employers and 50 million employees…

Start-up name: Craft Gin Club
Founders: Jon Hulme and John Burke
Started in: 2015
Based in: London
Business description: A subscription box service for craft gins and artisan snacks

Up against every other Startups Awards 2018 finalist, Craft Gin Club attracted the highest number of People’s Champion votes from customers, fans and Startups readers – making this premium subscription box service our 2018 People’s Champion!

Collating craft gins, tonics, liqueurs, mixers and snacks and sending them to customers in monthly themed boxes (complete with the business’ own magazine), Craft Gin Club’s members say receiving each box is an experience that’s “like Christmas every month”.

Alongside its excellent boxes, Craft Gin Club has also used targeted, interactive online content to grow its ferociously engaged community of customers.

By writing blogs, sending email newsletters and inviting daily interaction on social media, Craft Gin Club enhances its members’ experience. The start-up has built a highly communicative following – 615,000 social media followers and 250,000 newsletter subscribers, to be exact – that brings over 34 million monthly impressions to the brand.

And as well as its members, the start-up is also a champion for the brands whose products feature in its boxes.

A unique marketing platform, Craft Gin Club not only enables these brands to have customers sample their wares, but it also offers them tailored content marketing campaigns through its online platforms and magazine, and provides consumer insight data on what customers think of the products.

With 42,000 active club members and over 1,100 five-star reviews across Facebook and Reviews.com – not to mention a customer loyalty score of 8.1 on NPS – Craft Gin Club’s victory as People’s Champion is undeniably deserved.

While Craft Gin Club won the most votes, recipe box service Mindful Chef followed and took home the Highly Commended award. Ethical clothing brand Lucy and Yak came in third, winning the Commended trophy.

Start-up name: Linkilaw
Founder: Alexandra Isenegger
Started in: London
Based in: 2015
Business description: Start-up-friendly legal firm aiming to demystify business law

A 2017 report from YouGov reported that UK small businesses suffer with eight legal issues per year and are collectively losing £7m an hour as a result of neglecting their legal obligations.

So, it’s no surprise that 25 year-old Alexandra Isenegger impressed the judges with her legal platform that’s tackling this problem head on with a targeted solution for small firms.

Founded back in 2015 when Isenegger was just 23, London-based Linkilaw helps connect start-ups with affordable and verified legal advice.

Offering advice on everything from commercial and company law, Intellectual Property, employment, and commercial property, Linkilaw has helped over 3,000 businesses to date.

Businesses in need of legal assistance submit a confidential request for help before receiving proposals from pre-approved lawyers which they can either accept or reject.

And the site is free for users with payment only required if a small business enlists the help of a lawyer.

This USP has been compelling and, supported by an acquisition of legal comparison site LawyerFair last year, the company has seen 12% growth month on month.

Named among the Forbes 30 under 30, Isenegger has helped establish a firm following for her business by contributing regularly to sites such as Quora while her work ethic is nothing short of inspiring.

The University of London LLB graduate regularly wakes up at 5am every day to get tasks done; dividing her priorities into an A-D category system, focusing on getting all the As and Bs done by the time her head hits the pillow again.

Young entrepreneur Isenegger faced off stiff competition from Highly Commended Young Entrepreneur of the Year Myles Hopper, the 3o year-old co-founder of recipe box company Mindful Chef, and Abbas Kazmi, the founder of the “friendliest” VC firm Collegiate Capital, who was named Commended Young Entrepreneur of the Year.

Start-up name: Elvie
Founders: Tania Boler and Alexander Asseily
Started in: 2015
Based in: London
Business description: Pioneering smart technology for women including pelvic floor training devices and breast pumps

Elvie is a tech company putting women front and centre with innovative products geared to female health.

As a business improving women’s lives through the medium of smart technology, it’s apt then that co-founder, Tania Boler, scooped the award for Women in Business at the Startups Awards 2018 ceremony.

Boler, who launched Elvie back in 2015 with co-founder Alexander Asseily (the founder of Jawbone), has built unique products which have made investors take note; to the tune of £11.6m to be exact.

These products include the Elvie Trainer; a Kegel device which combines being sleek and easy-to-use (inserted like a tampon) with a workout app to help women strengthen their pelvic floors.

Boler and Asseily’s more recent creation is the Elvie Pump; the world’s first silent wearable breast pump which, being handsfree and wireless, enables mothers to benefit from greater freedom, mobility and discretion while pumping.

As an inspiring founder creating extraordinary products, Boler impressed the judges in how she had shaken up the tech industry by putting taboo’ issues that women face on a daily basis firmly in the spotlight.

With a background in health education and promotion – Boler previously worked for the U.N. and Marie Stopes International – the female entrepreneur is focused on helping more women still.

There is a pipeline to launch four more Elvie products by 2020 and, while the details of these products are still under wraps, we’re confident that we can expect more game-changing innovations.

Certainly, there’s more room for change; sanitary ware and conception tools are just two areas that could do with a tech transformation!

Boler was up against worthy opponents in the Women in Business category; Jenny Inglis of gender-neutral kid’s magazine Whizz Pop Bang was awarded Highly Commended, and Rachel Carrell, the founder of innovative childcare platform Koru Kids, took home the Commended title.

Start-up name: Elvie
Founders: Tania Boler and Alexander Asseily
Started in: 2015 (founded 2013)
Based in: London
Business description: Pioneering smart technology for women including pelvic floor training devices and breast pumps

£11.6m.

That’s the amount of funding Elvie, the start-up co-founded by our Women in Business winner, has raised. And £7.4m of that figure is comprised of venture capital investment.

Founded in 2013, and launched in 2015, Elvie creates innovative products that address women’s health such as providing a solution to pelvic floor issues and helping women breastfeed their babies using an easier, quicker and more efficient approach.

With backers including Octopus Ventures, NJF Capital, and female-focused VC firm AllBright, the judges were impressed by the credibility and reputation Elvie has built for itself among investors in such a short space of time.

But it’s not surprising that investors want to get behind Elvie as it looks to expand the scope of what smart technology can do for women’s personal health.

As Simon King of Octopus Ventures commented at the time of the start-up’s Series A round: “Elvie is addressing an unrivalled market for women’s personal health and has already established itself as the leader in this category.”

With is Elvie Pump and Elvie Trainer already popular with consumers and industry (the latter has been backed by 1,000 healthcare professionals), Boler and Asseily intend to use their funding to roll-out four new products in the next two years.

The business will be able to add the award to its growing trophy cabinet; already Elvie has won The Europas Award for “Hottest Hardware Startup”, was named one of the 15 start-ups “To Watch” by The Sunday Times and was ranked as the 13th fastest growing business in the UK in 2017 by SyndicateRoom.

Nanny sharing app Koru Kids was awarded the Highly Commended accolade for venture-funded business of the year, while textbook subscription service Perlego was awarded the Commended title by the Startups Awards judges.

Start-up name: Phelps Innovations (t/a Doddl)
Founders: Catherine Dodd and Rosie Phelps-Goggin
Started in: March 2016
Based in: Gloucestershire
Business description: Ergonomic children’s cutlery

Ergonomic children’s cutlery brand Doddl was founded in 2013 by sisters Catherine Dodd and Rosie Phelps-Goggin, a former RAF intelligence officer.

They were astonished to find that a worrying number of children still start school unable to use a knife and fork properly. Dodd came up with the idea of completely redesigning children’s cutlery to make it easier to use.

The founders managed to secure a £20,000 loan from The Start Up Loans Company to go towards the initial product tooling and went on to rack up some vital pre-order sales through a Kickstarter campaign.

After 40 prototypes and 18 months of research in conjunction with child development specialists, created the innovative Doddl knife, fork and spoon – perfectly shaped for a child’s hand to promote the development of the pincer grip.

Available through its website, Amazon, Boots and Kidly, Doddl is now helping children to eat independently in more than 30 countries around the world and has been warmly received by the baby-led weaning community.

It’s also regarded as the UK’s number one baby-led cutlery brand by parenting bloggers and influencers, as well as child NHS occupational therapists, nutritionists and child development specialists.

But this is just the start, with three new product lines already in the works for 2019 in conjunction with the University of Gloucestershire, and more designs based around mealtimes and feeding at an advanced stage of development planned for 2020.

Optiat, which uses waste coffee grounds to make skincare products, picked up Highly Commended, and Holy Moly Dips, which makes all-natural avocado dips, was Commended.

Start-up name: Salary Finance
Founder: Asesh Sarkar
Started in: July 2015
Based in: London
Business description: Financial wellbeing platform for employees

Money makes the world go around – we all know that the state of our finances can have a major impact on our health, happiness, and personal and work life.

With so many people borrowing at crazy high interest rates, burdened by enormous debts, London-based Salary Finance has created a solution to make a real difference to people’s lives.

And it’s this solution which saw the judges crown it The Founders Pledge Social Impact award winner.

By partnering with employers, Salary Finance helps employees improve their lives by improving their finances.

The business’ salary linked employee benefits have already enabled borrowers to save more than £76m, helping them to get out of debt some six to 12 months earlier than they typically would have.

Moving people out of debt into savings, through its offering Salary Finance is also helping companies to improve the wellbeing of their staff – with money worries gone, they can focus more on their work and increase their productivity.

Since launch in 2015, the start-up has racked up an impressive list of clients who are providing their services for their employees. Big employers including Metro Bank, Carlsberg, BT, Virgin Active, Saga, and Dunelm are all customers.

As businesses bringing about great social change, the judges were also impressed by Startups Awards finalists Elvie and Koru Kids.

Elvie, the creator of smart technology to improve the lives of women, was awarded Highly Commended while Koru Kids, the start-up providing better childcare options for parents in London took home the Commended title.

Name: New Entrepreneurs Foundation
Founders: Oliver Pawle, Lord Davies of Abersoch CBE, Sir Nigel Rudd DL and Dee Stirling
Started in: 2010
Based in: London
Business description: A programme that equips aspiring young entrepreneurs with the skills and experience they need to launch a business

Non-profit organisation New Entrepreneurs Foundation (NEF) is a true driver of entrepreneurial growth in the UK. Its purpose? To help aspiring young entrepreneurs develop the skills, knowledge and vision they need to start and run a business.

Each year, NEF selects a cohort of around 30 ambitious young people and takes them through a hands-on 12-month programme.

As part of the programme, participants undertake a fast-track course of workshops from over 20 specialist learning providers and business schools, including London Business School, Makers Academy and UCL.

NEF also organises paid work placements at high-growth companies, during which participants work closely with founders or senior management teams to learn, first-hand, what running a business is really like.

Crucially, participants are also assigned an individual executive coach to provide expert support, as well as a mentor – from NEF’s panel of successful business people and investors – to guide them down their career path.

Not only this, but NEF also provides monthly speaker and networking events. By 2017, the organisation had hosted 150 events, with an annual turnout of more than 1,000.

As of last year, NEF had developed seven cohorts of 200 alumni, who now give back to the programme by sharing their skills and experience with current cohorts.

But the proof of NEF’s importance is in the entrepreneurs and businesses that have come out of it: 92 ventures are currently live as a result of the programme, with thousands of jobs created and over £27m raised.

In this category, our judges saw plenty of inspiring start-up community catalysts. Rocketmakers, which helps entrepreneurs bring digital products to life, was awarded Highly Commended, while collaborative coworking space Runway East won the Commended title.

Start-up name: Mama Bamboo
Founder: Laura Crawford
Started in: 2018
Based in: Brookmans Park, Hatfield
Business description: Designs and sells biodegradable bamboo baby products

Full-time mum Laura Crawford had her epiphany while serving up her childrens’ dinner on ugly plastic plates. There must be kids’ tableware out there that’s better for the environment, she thought – not to mention better looking.

Beyond just plates and cups, Crawford started searching for sustainable products her little ones could use… but, sadly, every great alternative to plastic came with a hefty price tag. Something had to change.

So, alongside caring for her two children, Crawford has built Mama Bamboo – a brand of eco-friendly and attractive bamboo products for the under-fives market. A sustainable material, bamboo is grown in forests that self-seed and don’t require pesticides or fertilisers.

Retailing everything from nappies and wipes to baby socks, blankets, toothbrushes, and, yes, tableware, Mama Bamboo’s key principles are “best for baby, best for you, best for Mama Earth”.

With this, the business refers to its products’ natural, harsh chemical-free materials; its low prices, which aim to compete with cheap non-sustainable brands; and its “kinder to the environment” production and business practices.

And Mama Bamboo has also set its sights on preserving animal life. Each of its tableware sets features a different endangered animal, and comes with an informative leaflet designed to raise awareness among young children.

Not to mention that the brand donates a portion of its profits to WWF and NSPCC.

Having started trading in August this year, Mama Bamboo is already shaking up the baby products market. Its success – as well as its universally beneficial principles and practices – won over judges to win Side Hustle of Year, an award sponsored by domain name registry GoDaddy.

In a competition filled with fantastic side hustlers, premium fashion brand Bowtees took home the Highly Commended trophy, while driving instruction innovator GoRoadie won the Commended title.

Start-up name: Habito
Founder: Daniel Hegarty
Started in: 2016
Based in: London
Business description: A free online mortgage broker

Founded on the belief that the mortgage process should be simpler and fairer and mortgage advice should be free and unbiased, Habito is an online platform that vows to make mortgage brokering better – by making it digital.

By accessing over 20,000 mortgage products (from more than 70 lenders) in real-time, Habito can recommend “the best possible” deal for each customer. Importantly, Habito is free to use, and its algorithm has no bias towards particular lenders or borrowers – unlike human brokers.

A true innovator in the mortgage sector, Habito is also pioneering the world’s first digital mortgage adviser: the DMA.

An artificially intelligent chatbot, the DMA asks customers about their finances and life plans. It then uses market rates to calculate the mortgage payments each customer should expect, and explains how their decisions will impact this.

So, with AI covering the paperwork, admin and product research, Habito’s human brokers have more time to add real value by supporting customers and resolving complex cases.

Another first for the sector, in August 2018 Habito launched its first add-on product – life insurance. After just nine fast and non-intrusive questions, homebuyers are given 90 days of the insurance for free – after which they can simply opt in or out online.

In two and a half years, Habito has grown from five to 106 employees, and completed £1bn in mortgage applications. And with a five-star Trustpilot rating, it seems the fintech start-up is certainly achieving what it set out to.

Our judges were impressed by a number of disruptive pioneers in this category. Retail finance platform Divido was awarded the Highly Commended trophy, while Diffblue, a creator of AI for code, took home the Commended title.

Company name: London & Partners (Mayor’s International Business Programme)
Founder: Mayor of London
Started in: 2011
Based in: London
Business description: Promotional agency for London

London & Partners, the Mayor of London’s promotional agency, has been doing sterling work retaining, growing, and promoting the capital’s businesses since 2011.

It is a not-for-profit public-private partnership, funded by the Mayor of London, European and national funds, and its network of partners and other commercial ventures.

The Mayor’s International Business Programme helps ambitious high-growth (scale-up) companies from London’s technology, life sciences, creative and urban sectors to expand their businesses internationally.

Tailored to fit a company’s specific international growth ambitions, the programme provides one-to-one and one-to-many mentoring and ongoing guidance from entrepreneurs and business leaders, as well as focused workshops and events that provide the opportunity to learn from expert advisers.

It also helps businesses access live leads for specific business opportunities in North America, Europe, China and India and the opportunity to join high-profile targeted trade missions led by a team of international business experts.

For example, this May a group of 15 leaders of London’s fastest-growing women-led tech companies headed to Silicon Valley in the USA as part of the Mayor’s #BehindEveryGreatCity campaign. There have also been missions to Atlanta, Madrid, Toronto, Germany, Nashville, Paris and China, where participants get access to key decision makers at corporates, investors and influencers.

Since launching in February 2016, the Mayor’s International Business Programme has supported more than 500 of London’s high growth businesses in their international expansion. 50 leading businesses in the tech, life sciences, urban and creative sectors are accepted onto the programme every quarter. Participant companies gain access to bespoke support for one year in the form of mentoring, workshops, access to corporates, international trade missions and advice.

To date, the programme has supported companies to create 789 new jobs, close deals totalling £49m and raise investment to the tune of £133m. A recent cohort survey showed that more than 86% of the companies created new jobs in 2017; of these companies, 54% signed new deals and 56% entered new markets in the past year.

Communications and growth consultancy Fieldhouse Associates scooped Highly Commended in the Growth Business Enabler of the Year category, followed by PwC’s Scale-up programmes, which was Commended.

Start-up name: Phelps Innovations (t/a Doddl)
Founders: Catherine Dodd and Rosie Phelps-Goggin
Started in: March 2016
Based in: Gloucestershire
Business description: Ergonomic children’s cutlery

The winner of Family Business of the Year at the Startups Awards 2018, Doddl was founded in 2013 by sisters Catherine Dodd and Rosie Phelps-Goggin.

With a significant proportion of school-aged children unable to use a knife and fork properly, Dodd came up with the idea of completely redesigning children’s cutlery to make it easier to use.

The sisters created the innovative Doddl knife, fork and spoon – perfectly shaped for a child’s hand to promote the development of the pincer grip – a key fine motor skill.

The product is helping children around the world the world improve control and coordination, whilst developing skills and confidence that make mealtimes more enjoyable for the whole family.

Despite some manufacturing issues, sales took off in mid-2017, and the brand went from turning over approximately £1,000 per month to 10 times that. Doddl is now available through its website, Amazon, Boots and Kidly. It is an Amazon bestseller and holds a five-star rating.

It’s also been endorsed by child healthcare experts including NHS occupational therapists, nutritionists and child development specialists.

This family-focused business is still only four strong and outsources everything from social media and PR, to graphic design, accounting and manufacturing.

It now has a “comprehensive product development programme” in conjunction with the University of Gloucestershire and plans to introduce three new product lines in 2019 and more planned for 2020.

Optiat, the skincare brand that uses waste coffee grounds and was founded by siblings Anna and William Brightman was Highly Commended. And H2O hygiene, the water hygiene specialist founded by Tom and Louise Davenport was Commended.

Start-up name: Fancy Dress Worldwide
Founder: Dom Portman
Started in: 2016
Based in: Worcester
Business description: An online retailer of fancy dress costumes

This year’s Export Business of the Year, Fancy Dress Worldwide is a breathtakingly successful start-up.

Launched in 2016 by Dom Portman, the e-commerce site for fancy dress costumes has been profitable since year one – no mean feat for a brand new business – and has gone on to grow 100% year-on-year.

Exporting to 85 countries worldwide, over the past two years the business has sold over 380,000 products; expanded its product range from one item to a whopping 20,000; and grown its employee numbers from one to 25.

But how has Fancy Dress Worldwide achieved such rapid growth? Portman says it is, in part, down to the business’ unique software system, which has streamlined its entire e-commerce process.

For customers, the start-up’s clever tech has introduced a one-click buying portal and fostered ultra-slick customer service. Behind the scenes, the software has enabled the efficient management of mass amounts of stock.

In short, the retailer’s very foundation is one that can adapt easily and quickly to rising demand.

In August this year, Fancy Dress Worldwide launched a crowdfunding campaign on Seedrs. Within just 27 days, its £200,000 funding target was hit and exceeded by 39%, bagging £278,109.

With plans to use the investment to break the US, and to increase sales on Amazon by integrating with Prime, the start-up is now barrelling towards a £10m valuation in 2021, with a predicted 500% growth in the three years until then.

And with ambitions to develop several more e-commerce brands under the same tech umbrella, the future certainly looks big for this business.

Fancy Dress Worldwide faced strong competition in the Export Business of the Year category. At the ceremony, healthy instant noodle brand Mr Lee’s Noodles was awarded the Highly Commended trophy, while automated transcription service Trint took home the Commended title.