Announcing the Best in British Tech nominees 2022!

Every year, the GBx community nominates and votes for startups that are exemplifying the Best in British technology, who are innovating in their market, scaling fast to make a global impact all whilst contributing to their community.

The following startups have been nominated this year. The voting begins today – only GBx members can vote – and the winners will be announced at the GBx Gala on October 20.

 

 

British Upstart

Contact.xyz: Connects creatives with brands, allowing them to showcase their portfolio, network, be booked by and invoice clients. Contact has raised $4.4m and their clients include Balenciaga, Burberry, Depop, Farfetch, i-D, Nike, Vivienne Westwood and Vogue.

 

DRAUP: A Web3 native marketplace for the next era of digital luxury fashion. Draup (pronounced Drop) raised $1.5M in July 2022 to build the platform, which she hopes will be an “on-ramp for women and underserved populations in blockchain.”

 

Shellworks: Creates cost-competitive, biodegradable cosmetic packaging; made from up-cycled waste and at its end of life composting as a non polluting fertilizer. In May, Shellworks raised $6.2m seed funding.

 

Diem: A social search engine, powered by an incentivized community of female and non-binary knowledge-sharers. Diem has raised $3.6m for their beta app and their cofounder Emma Bates was named this year by Forbes as 30u30 for Consumer Tech.

 

Form Kitchens: Made-to-order kitchens, without the showroom markup. By designing online and shipping direct, they are improving the accessibility of modern, durable design. Winners of multiple sustainability and product design awards.

 

Everrati: Restores and converts classic and iconic cars to electric. Won GQ Car Awards and has been featured in GQ, Forbes, Top Gear, Wallpaper and the Independent. Everatti is now expanding to the US.

 

Rocketplace: A commission-free crypto trading platform that raised $9m in seed in August to build its software.

 

British Leader

Impossible Metals: A responsible seabed mining & refining technology for critical battery minerals, that mines without destroying habitats. They closed $10.1m in seed following their launch at Y Combinator this year, and have already signed $500M+ in Letters of Intent from battery manufacturers.

 

Accredible: A digital credential platform that permits secure issuing, tracking and verification of certificates, for a fraction of the cost. Clients include MIT, Cambridge University, Google and Slack, and Accredible has raised $10.8m.

 

Banked: A global payments network, powering real-time payments for consumers, businesses and banks. Raised $20.3m to build secure QR and SMS payment links, fee-free donations and instant refunds. 

 

Gr4vy: The world’s only cloud-native payment orchestration platform. Gr4vy has raised $27.2m for its cloud-based payment stack, and centralized no-code dashboard; leading to fewer abandoned carts, lost payments and better compliance.

 

Kadence: A platform that coordinates your people, projects, and spaces, enabling effective hybrid work. Kadence has raised $16.9m to date and clients include the NHS and Starling Bank.

 

EduMe: A mobile training platform for desk-less workforces. The platform has raised $27.2m, to aid companies onboard 70% faster. Clients include Uber, Marriott, Deliveroo and Vodafone.

 

Learnerbly: An employee learning platform, to upskill workforces. The platform has raised $12.1m, to aid companies retain employees and have high engagement among workforces. Clients include Gocardless and Hello Fresh

 

Trailblazer

ClassDojo: A learning network that connects teachers, parents and families. The app is used in 95+% of US schools, reaching 51 million children in 180 countries. ClassDojo has raised $191.1m. This network gives kids the best learning experiences, far beyond what a standard school can provide.

 

Sundae: A residential real-estate marketplace for homes that need some love. With Sundae you sell as-is, without repairs, for a fair price. The platform has raised $137.5m and has launched in 14 states, holding significant market share in CA.

 

Cleo: An AI-based monetary assistant. The app and chatbot has raised $137m to help users with their finances, using simplicity and humour to improve financial health: building credit and escaping overdrafts. It boasts 4million users and has a 4.6/5 star rating on the app store.

 

Peek: A booking software and marketplace for fun things to do, globally. With nearly $2 billion in bookings, Peek provides point-of-sale, and automation tools including inventory management, dynamic pricing, waivers, and marketing analytics. Peek has raised $119.9m and been recognised by awards including Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies in Travel.

 

Red Sift: The only integrated cloud email and brand reputation protection platform, supporting organisations to secure their communications. Red Sift has raised $64.8m and clients include Wise, ITV and Dominos. For ITV alone, Red Sift has blocked just under twenty-thousand unauthorised sending sources.

 

Academia.edu: A distribution and peer review platform for academic research. With 170+m users and still growing at 2-3million per month, Academia.edu has raised $61.8m. They aim to democratise and accelerate the world’s research, by making published papers free and globally accessible.

 

Let’s Do This: A digital marketplace for discovering and booking the best endurance races, across the US and UK. Let’s Do This has raised $81.4m with thousands of experiences on offer (for all abilities and budgets) and a best price guarantee.