Since 2010 the Smarta 100 has uncovered some fantastic
new businesses and helped them to thrive. In this article we
profile ten of the most succesful Smarta 100 winners and look at
what they've acheived since.
The Smarta 100 together
with O2 is a breeding ground for successful start-ups and can give
a young business the recognition it needs to take it to the next
level. Through the Smarta 100, we've seen innovative business grow
from a small team into a tech giant hanging out with the industry
heavyweights and a mother making brownies in Wales transform into a
TV chef with a brilliant business to boot.
Wonga
Wonga came
onto the Smarta 100 radar in the 2010 awards. The business had
launched a service that was transforming the UK's personal credit
market by providing small, super-flexible cash loans that land in
your account in 15 minutes. The totally automated system attracted
investment from Balderton Capital, Accel Partners and Greylock
Partners. Now Wonga has expanded, offering businesses the same
service and the business was recently been named the number one
company in the Sunday Times Tech Track 100, a list of the UK's
fastest growing technology companies.
A Suit That Fits
Another innovative business that was celebrated in our 2010
awards, A Suit That Fits brings a tailor-made suit
service to customers at high-street prices. Through their website
customers can also design suits based on measurements they have
taken themselves. In 2010 the business had three London branches
and 19 'TailorStops'; today they've a partnership with John Lewis,
which sees A Suit That Fits services offered in John Lewis'
flagship Oxford Street store as well as in 33 A Suit That Fits
branches across the UK.
Bulldog
Bulldog
is a truly innovative company and was the UK's first natural
skincare brand for men when it launched. With a tiny budget
compared to other men's grooming products it managed to secure
major stockists including Sainsbury's, Tesco, Boots, Superdrug and
Waitrose right from the start. Using clever marketing tactics, the
start-up persuaded the Peep Show's David Mitchell to produce a
series of Soap Box podcasts under the Bulldog banner. These
received over two million views. Bulldog has since gone from
strength to strength and founder, Simon Duffy appeared on this
years' The Apprentice final as an advisor to Lord
Sugar.
Righteous Living
The natural salad dressings and healthy cooking oil company has
continued to grow emphatically since winning a Smarta 100 award in
2011. When the business launched it had three products that were
all free of preservatives. Since then, Righteous
Living has doubled its range to six products, crowdfunded over
£75,000 in investment, been namedropped on The Apprentice
2012 as an example of an innovative start-up and launched its first
TV advert.
Struq
This tech company wowed our judges during the 2010 Smarta 100
and has gone on to achieve all the success we thought they would.
Struq provides
targeted adverts online instead of generic ads and delivers 20
times as many clicks as traditional adverts. Having launched in the
recession with no funding, Struq has this year managed to secure
$8.5M investment after gaining recognition in the Smarta 100 and
other respected awards.
Naked Wines
This Norwich based firm was the overall winner of the Smarta 100
awards in 2011 and has since experienced astronomical growth at a
rate of 100% year on year. What started as an idea in founder Rowan
Gormley's garden has grown into a business with a turnover in the
millions. The successful business model means the company bypasses
the wine buyers and source its wines straight from the grower. This
year Naked
Wines announced a £5.5m investment into the development of US
and Australian vineyards to add to its growing collection of
wines.
Neon Play
The mobile games maker was awarded Smarta 100 status in 2011
just one year after launching. The business had clocked up some
mightily impressive statistics: 21.5m downloads, seven UK number
ones and customers in 120 countries. Since then, founder Oli
Christie, has steered the business to even more success. Such is
the respect for Neon Play, the company was recently invited to
Buckingham Palace to discuss business with Prince Andrew and
Christie has also been appointed to the board of TIGA, the trade
association representing the UK games industry.
Huddle
This online platform, which allows groups of people to
collaboratively edit and save documents is one of the most
successful businesses to have come out of the UK's tech industry
over the last few years. Since winning a Smarta 100 award in 2010
the team has opened an office in Silicon Valley and is going head
to head with Microsoft in the hunt for business. Huddle's
impressive client list now includes huge companies and
organisations such as Boots, the NHS, The Post Office and the
Belgian government.
Crowdcube
The team behind Crowdcube introduced the crowdfunding concept
in the UK, allowing ordinary people to invest in small
businesses in exchange for shares and equity. A Smarta 100 winner
in 2011, Crowdcube has gone on to shake up the world of investment.
Since its launch, the team has facilitated £2.8m
worth of investments for UK small businesses creating 489 jobs in
the process.
Gower Cottage Brownies
The brownie company, based in Wales, won a Smarta 100 award in
2011 after founder Kate Jenkins built a £100,000 turnover on her
own. Jenkins also secured endorsement from celebrities on Twitter
after she sent them packages of her brownies. Since scooping the
award she's continued to grow Gower
Cottage Brownies, winning Wales Best Online Retailer in the
prestigious Observer Food Monthly Awards and now appears as the
baking guru for ITV1's Countrywise Kitchen.
For more information and to enter the Smarta 100
together with 02 , click here