London is a great city for launching your own business. According to startupbritain.org there were an average of 600 startups launched in the city every day in the first half of last year. Now that’s a lot of innovation… That level of dynamism makes life extremely competitive and it also makes it difficult to know which ones are making real progress and which ones are failing. Here are three startups which stand out right now:
Monzo
Monzo is a digital mobile-only bank founded in 2015 by a team of ex-bankers unhappy with the way banking is normally done. It is often described as “the bank of the future”. It updates your balance instantly after any transaction, does not charge for setting up or using its service and doesn’t charge for spending abroad.
Basically, they don’t charge for all the annoying stuff that traditional banks use to bleed you dry. It’s also a lot easier to budget your money and send money to people if you’re using Monzo. When the company launched in 2015 it had a waiting list of 20,000 people and it now has more than 200,000 customers.
You can download the app for free and they will send you a Monzo card which can be used like a regular debit card. It’s about time banking gets a makeover!
Bio-bean
Most businesses are based on solving a problem for their customers. Bio-bean solves a problem for all of us as it makes the planet more eco-friendly.
Founded by Benjamin Harriman and Arthur Kay in 2013, Bio-bean recycles used coffee grounds into biofuel and biochemicals. It opened its first factory in Cambridge in 2014 and has grown rapidly with support from University College London, the Mayor of London,
Santander and Shell. Its staff drive around London picking up used coffee grounds for its factory, which can process up to 50,000 tons a year. Cleaning up London, providing green energy and making money – pretty amazing, eh?
DICE FM
Yes, it sounds like a radio station but Dice FM is actually a mobile app for music tickets. Founded in 2014 by Phil Hutcheon, it allows users to see what music gigs are coming up and buy or sell tickets to live music events.
Dice was considered “app of the year” by the Guardian in 2014 and by the Apple store in 2015. The app is now available in London, Manchester, Bristol, Cardiff, Brighton, Newcastle, Leeds, Birmingham, Dublin and Glasgow. It’s really easy to use buy you do need to make sure your phone is properly charged as you won’t get into the gig without being able to show your ticket on your phone.!
With so many impressive startups in London, it was difficult to boil this list it down to three. These ones got the nod because they have a positive impact and have the potential to spread worldwide.
Keep an eye on them as they seem to be here to stay.
By Dominic Luca
The post Winning: London Startups Making a Mark appeared first on Felix Magazine.
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