Exclusive: Female founders dominate cohort of fast-growing start-ups
Fifty of the UK’s fastest growing start-up firms are set to join a tech accelerator that has helped launched the likes of Wise and Skyscanner – with nearly half of the new cohort founded by women.
The new crop of startups, selected by the Bay Area to London networking body Silicon Valley Comes to the UK (SVC2UK), features firms including connectivity firm PureLiFi, local transport provider RideTandem and Oxford Heartbeat, a digital health platform.
This year’s group marks SVC2UK’s most diverse to date, with 46 per cent of the firms led or founded by women, and 32 per cent of the founders coming from a diverse background, SVC2UK said.
Janet Coyle, managing director for business growth at SVC2UK said the new group underscored the diversity of the UK’s tech talent.
“Britain is producing game changing companies across a range of high-growth sectors and it’s fantastic to see representation of businesses from many regions of the country in this year’s cohort,” she said.
“It’s also refreshing to see the increasing number of companies with female founders and from diverse backgrounds.
“As two of the world’s leading hubs for technology and entrepreneurship, the UK and the Bay Area have an important role to play in promoting a fairer and more inclusive global business ecosystem.”
London firms make up the bulk of the list, with 58 per cent hailing from the Capital, alongside a host of firms from Manchester, Edinburgh, Birmingham.
Launched in 2006 by Sherry Coutu CBE, Reid Hoffman and Ellen Levy, SVC2UK is run by international promotional outfit London & Partners.
The body has guided some 880 firms through its Scale Up Club CEOs and founders, including London-based companies Wise, SkyScanner and The Drum.
In full: Scale Up Club’s 2022 members
55/Redefined
ACUA Ocean
Afrocenchix
BankiFi Technology Limited
Béa Fertility
Captur
Classlist
Collctiv
CrowdProperty
Cyacomb
CyberQ Group
DigiDoe
DirectID
enferm
Feast It
FranScape
GEEIQ
Greyparrot
Inovus Medical
iWarranty Limited
JustWears
Kidadl
KogoPAY Group
LOVIS
Movemeback
Muse Finance
MyPocketSkill
MyWay Digital Health
NearSt
Organise
Oxford Heartbeat
Petalite Limited
pirkx
PollenPay
pureLiFi
Recruitment Smart Technologies
RelaxMyDog
RideTandem
Rovco
Shares
Sign of the Times
SPOKE
Syrona Health
The Mothership
TravelLocal
Treasury Spring
Tumelo
Valla
Virtual Internships