Startups Awards 2018 deadline extension! Entries close midnight 21 September

You now have until September 21 to get your Startups Awards 2018 entry finished. Don’t miss your chance to have your business validated by industry professionals and receive widespread publicity.

Now in its 15th year the Startups Awards is the longest running awards of its kind.

Startups.co.uk is pleased to have The Start-Up Loans Company back as headline sponsor, alongside category sponsors AXA, haysmacintyre, GoDaddy, and Oracle NetSuite.

Personalised gift company Notonthehighstreet.com, online furniture retailer Made.com, healthy childrens’ food company Ella’s Kitchen, and AIM-listed property agent PurpleBricks are just some of the past winners of the prestigious awards.

Last year saw renewable energy supplier Bulb crowned The Start Up Loans Start-up of the Year, whilst shaving subscription provider Cornerstone scooped the coveted People’s Champion award (voted for by fellow businesses and the public) for a record third year in a row.

Enter The Startups Awards 2018 now!

The Startups Awards 2018 judges

As usual, we have assembled a spectacular line up of judges, with a wealth of experience in the UK’s start-up community that makes them the perfect candidates to judge hundreds of exceptional entrants.

The judges include:

• Griselda Togobo, founder of Forward Ladies
• Alex Chesterman OBE, founder of Zoopla Property Group
• Charles Tuke, director of Home House and UK CFO for Fairford Holdings Ltd
• Titus Sharpe, co-founder and president of MVF
• Sahar Hashemi OBE, best-selling author and founder of Coffee Republic and Skinny Candy
• Giles Brook, CEO of Vita Coco EMEA
• Nick Wheeler, founder and chairman of Charles Tyrwhitt Shirts
• Jon Wright, Co-founder, innocent drinks, JamJar Investments and the Wright Family Foundation
• Justine Roberts MBE, founder and CEO of Mumsnet
• Julien Callède, co-founder of Made.com

You can see the full line up of judges here.

New categories for 2018

This year, there are 13 categories to enter such as Export Business of the Year, Innovative Business of the Year and Venture Funded Business of the Year.

This also includes some new exciting categories for 2018:

• Side Hustle of the Year – sponsored by GoDaddy, this award recognises entrepreneurs making the seemingly impossible, possible – running a part-time business whilst holding down a day job
• Family Business of the Year – whether you’re a mother and daughter team, father and son duo, siblings or even a whole family, this is awarded to founders balancing work and personal life
• Best Place to Work – accolade to celebrate small businesses with a great culture that keep their teams happy, productive and moving forward

Every shortlisted start-up will be put forward for the People’s Champion Award, voted for by the public and your business peers.

Separately, for start-up supporters as opposed to start-ups, we have introduced two new categories for 2018:

• Start-up Community Catalyst – this award is for the start-up workspaces, incubators and accelerators that have built a strong community and a support package giving early stage businesses the best chance to succeed
• Growth Business Enabler of the Year – for companies operating across professional and business services with a particularly growth-focused and unique offering

One deserving entrant will also be awarded the grand prize of The Start Up Loans Company Start-up of the Year.

The full list of Startups Awards categories and their descriptions can be found here.

The winners of the Startups Awards 2018 will be unveiled at an illustrious awards ceremony at the Royal Garden Hotel, London on Thursday 21 November 2018.

Don’t hesitate! Enter your business for The Startups Awards 2018 now!