15 best UK tech startups to watch in 2021
For the last few months we’ve been observing rapid development of modern technologies. The United Kingdom is the top European technology hub with a number of interesting technology companies being born and developed. Which startups are worth keeping an eye on in 2021?
1. Deliveroo
Deliveroo is an online food delivery platform. They managed to collect the biggest funding in the country, reaching $1.5 billion. Launched in 2013, now they cooperate with nearly 10 000 restaurants, providing services to consumers across the whole country. Especially in the era of global lockdown, their revenue skyrocketed due to an increased demand for food delivery.
2. Babylon Health
Babylon Health, dynamically growing in 2020 due to COVID-19, reached the total funding of more than $635 million. Their technology is based on artificial intelligence which connects doctors with patients needing affordable healthcare. With the help of this tool the user can attach photos, send video messages or just text to a doctor of their choice. Services of the Babylon Health strongly contribute to development of modern telemedicine. The company also offers packages of employee benefits like health insurance, access to gyms and more.
3. Revolut
There’s no need to introduce this player — for the last few years Revolut has been consistently conquering the world with their top modern financial services. They provide mobile banking, card payments, foreign exchange and money remittance solutions. Founded in 2014, so far they’ve managed to reach $914 million.
4. Zopa
Zopa is the solution launched in 2005 as the first tool dedicated to peer-to-peer loans. They provide their users with low, attractive rates and flexible terms. Their headquarter is based in London, and they managed to reach $464 million of funding in total.
Cazoo is still a newbie in the startup industry. Although launched in 2018, the idea has already collected $557 million. Cazoo is an online marketplace designed to buying, financing and renting quality used cars and then delivering them right to the shopper’s door. With their support the whole shopping process takes only 72 hours. The solution entirely transformed car renting market, together with consumer behaviours and the way they complete such purchases.
To put it simply, Echo is a solution complimentary to telemedicine services. It allows patients to order drugs online and get them delivered for free. The way they simplified pharmaceutical services made them one of the most modern UK-based healthcare solutions in 2020. In total, they’ve managed to reach £8.8 million of funding since 2015.
City Pantry is an online marketplace when users can order food delivery. They provide meals to both office and remote workers, which was exceptionally needed during an European lockdown in 2020. Currently they’ve been operating in a number of countries, reaching £5.1 million of funding in total.
Push Doctor is the next player providing medical services which rapidly grew in the era of COVID-19. It’s one of the largest European healthcare brands helping to connect patients with qualified doctors via any device. Their digital consultations deliver 90% accuracy in resolutions and their total funding reached more than $55 million.
GoodBox is a solution dedicated to NGO sector. It is focused on producing hardware and software for fundraising purposes. Their mission is to support charities and non-profit organizations by helping them to drive efficiency of fundraising by implementing the latest technologies. They managed to reach the funding of more than £8 million and design the solution revolutionizing the entire sector.
Wakelet is a kind of all-in-one platform supporting users in creating content for various channels. As Facebook, Instagram and other social media have already dominated modern online marketing, it might be difficult for companies to be present and equally active on a number of platforms. Wakelet makes it easier to collect, organize and share information and content across the Internet. The project has already supported a number of online marketing agencies and managed to reach £1 million since 2014.
Equipsme provides businesses, employees and their families with employee benefits, including health insurance. Powered by AXA PPP, they offer affordable insurance plans priced from £7.99 per person, per month. The company raised the funding of £3 million in total, and established strong partnerships with banks and global financial giants.
Popsa is the most user-friendly photo printing app available in the App Store. Their technology, based on machine learning solutions, empowers users to easily create customizable goods. Their total funding amount reaches £6.8 million.
Cyberattacks became one of the most pressing problems in 2020. Nearly 60% of enterprises have experienced more frequent attempts to breach the digital security of their organizations than ever before, and 34% actually registered cyber attacks. This is why companies like Darktrace are expected to play a major role in 2021’s cybersecurity environment. With their product, the AI-based Autonomous Response technology, they can enable companies to effectively monitor threats and prevent them. The idea managed to reach $230.5 million.
2020 brought also an increased interest in the gaming industry. Improbable is one of UK-based startups supporting development of multiplayer games. Since 2012, they’ve managed to reach more than $604 million of funding.
Pawfect Match is an exceptionally interesting app powered by Flutter — the technology which we, as a software house, specialize in. The app helps the users to get matched with homeless animals from their area, around the whole UK. The solution digitalized and significantly improved an adoption process, giving both animals the chance to find the home and humans to find their new pet friend.
If you’re searching for the solution which will help you to develop your own startup, we highly recommend Flutter or Ruby on Rails. As an experienced software house, we’ve used them within a number of successful UK-based projects (e.g. Nutrifix, Winter Circle) and helped our clients to spread their wings. Feel free to check our portfolio and to reach out to us in case of any questions — we will be happy to assist you.
Originally published at https://themasters.io on January 13, 2021.
