London Technology Week is well underway with hundreds of events that bring together domestic and international players from across the technology ecosystem. The initiative also serves as an advertisement for London’s booming technology scene – here are 10 companies making waves.
Zipjet
ZipJet is an on-demand laundry and dry cleaning start-up that changes the way people get their laundry done – rather than using traditional launderettes, customers place orders through ZipJet’s smartphone app or website and have their washing picked up. Last month, it launched a same day express delivery service for busy Londoners - the first business to offer such service in the UK. The company was founded by Lorenzo Franzi Florian Färber in 2014.
Yoyo
Yoyo is a UK-based mobile wallet company that promises to create more value for retailers and consumers by combining mobile payments with loyalty rewards. For example, rather than simply paying for coffee on your mobile, you can rack up "stamps" to earn yourself a free one. The system provides real value for retailers whose physical loyalty cards produce few insights into consumer behaviours. Alain Falys and Michael Rolph founded Yoyo Wallet in 2013 and the business has already concluded three funding rounds worth a total of £15m.
Captify
Founded in 2011 by Dominic Joseph and Adam Ludwin, Captify is the only adtech startup in the world that merges search and programmatic data to anticipate consumers’ interests. Its 450 clients now include large corporations such as Nike, M&S, Barclays and BMW, which use Captify’s innovative technology to identify trends ahead of time. Captify has raised £10 million to date, backed by Panoramic Growth Equity and Smedvig Capital.
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SalaryFinance
SalaryFinance was co-founded in 2015 by the ex-MD of Google UK Dan Cobley, former banking consultant Asesh Sarkar and entrepreneur Daniel Shakhani. The company champions the idea of 'fintech with a social purpose' by helping working people pay off their personal debts as quickly as possible straight from their payroll - similar to how deductions are made for National Insurance or student loans. After securing a $6.1m funding round in 2015, the company is now offering its service to staff across the public sector.
Coople
Backed by One Peak Partners and Goldman Sachs, Coople is the UK's number one on-demand staffing platform, offering businesses a unique algorithm thto help them find the best workers in the retail, hospitality, commerce and catering industries within minutes. The company also handles all the paperwork and administration for the hire, so that businesses save time and money on lengthy recruitment processes. The company raised £15.7m in March this year to grow its presence in the UK.
Techspace
An emerging force in the competitive co-working office scene, Techspace provides stylish workspaces for tech start-ups and scale-ups. Designed specifically for scale-up teams, Techspace's offices offer a plug-and-play membership to enable start-ups to accelerate business growth. The business also now provides space for larger, more established companies such as Business Insider Europe and Virgin Media.
Hostmaker
London-based hospitality management service Hostmaker was founded by entrepreneur Nakul Sharma in December 2013. It enables Airbnb hosts, as well as other homeowners, to offer a high-quality, hassle-free hospitality service to their guests, with on-location housekeepers and concierges. The inclusion of this service has been shown to help the hosts improve their listings, increasing the number of bookings the receive. The company raised a $2m seed funding round in November 2015.
BoomApp
Described as ‘Shazam for videos’, start-up BoomApp has developed a unique technology that enables video recognition from a simple photo taken of the screen. Results are provided to the user in less than five seconds, enabling them to find the source and details of a video with a simple screenshot. After a successful round of funding, BoomApp launched the product in 2015 and now works with some of the world's best-known consumer brands and advertising agencies.
Quiqup
London’s Quiqup is an on-demand delivery service that allows you to order anything you want and have it delivered to your doorstep. Its personal shoppers - known as Quiquees - will go to the store, restaurant, shop or service and purchase what you need, promising to get it to you within the hour. Quiqup makes money by charging a fee for the delivery, plus a percentage mark up on the cost of the item. The service is currently only available in central London, but there are plans to expand the service in the coming months.
Covercy
An emerging competitor to TransferWise, Covercy has created a digital system for processing payments that is more efficient and cheaper than bank transfers. To get fees down, Covercy operates the bank accounts in countries that they support to receive and send payments. By using these accounts for handling the ‘last mile’ of the exchange, Covercy is able to reduce the costs involved with international money transfers. Covercy has recently closed a $1.5m funding round and has been granted its Financial Conduct Authority licence in the UK.
