While London is brimming with startups, Birmingham ranks the second capital of the UK proving itself to be a transformative city.
Of late, the tech startup ecosystem in Birmingham has flourished well and the city has the highest number of new startups in the UK. It is one of the most entrepreneurial cities in the United Kingdom along with London, Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and others. The startup scene in Birmingham is thriving due to the abundance in science, technology and industrial revolution in the city.
Moreover, the city has key incubators such as Boxxed, Innovation Birmingham Campus, Entrepreneurs for the Future, Spark, and others. Also, there are active accelerators including Climate-KIC, Oxygen Accelerator, and Entrepreneurial Spark that foster the tech startup ecosystem.
As it is one of the fast-growing cities in the United Kingdom for the tech startups, here we list the fastest-growing Birmingham startups as sourced from Dealroom.
Tonik Energy
Founders: Chris Russell, Simon Perkins, Jim Hayward
Funding: €15.2 million
Founded year: 2015
Why its hot: Switch to Tonik and start your renewable journey. The company aims to connect you to new technologies and innovative ways to power your home. The renewable energy company wants to halve the customers’ bills by 2022 by giving them control of how they generate, store, and use the energy.
On Device Solutions
Founders: Anup Rathi, Murali Yeddula, Navdeep Singla
Funding: €840k
Founded year: 2011
Why its hot: On Device Solutions is a specialist IT consultancy providing enterprise mobility products and services. It is an SAP Partner that helps customers get anywhere and anytime access to the details stored in their systems and unlock its value. Also, it offers services and access to third-party tools such as expert advice on getting maximum productivity by mobile enabling the enterprise solution, and more.
VoxPopMe
Founders: Andy Barraclough, Dave Carruthers, Tom Williams
Funding: €13.2 million
Founded year: 2013
Why its hot: VoxPopMe is one of the global leaders in the video insight platform with an impressive list of clientele including agencies and brands. This company helps businesses and brands see people behind the data to drive real customer-centric decision-making. The unique technology lets clients capture customer videos at speed, share with ease, and analyse at scale.
Unity Trust Bank
Funding: €7.2 million
Founded year: 1984
Why its hot: Unity Trust Bank is a commercial bank with a social conscience. It helps organisations to prosper and contribute to their community, economic, and social change. It helps create a better society. Operating since three decades, Unity works with the vision to create a bank that will serve the needs of its customers and improve the society.
Click Travel
Founders: James McLean, Simon McLean
Founded year: 1999
Why its hot: Click Travel is the fastest growing corporate travel management company in the UK. The company eyes at reducing the cost and complexity of business travel with the help of online booking and by helping organisations manage their travel-related expenditure. The online booking platform aggregates content from various travel distribution networks into a single platform so that customers have a lot of choices at their fingertips.
LightwaveRF
CEO: Andrew Pearson
Founded year: 2008
Why its hot: LightwaveRF is a pioneer of the smart home technology sector and developed the first internet enabled devices. Its leading proprietary IoT platform along with applications and connected devices provides customers with fully integrated remote control and monitoring of light, heat, power and security. Notably, it has integrated its proprietary platform with other IoT platforms and branded smart devices.
EYOTO
CEO: Carl D. Francis
Founded year: 2014
Why its hot: EYOTO exists to create new technologies for the optical industry across the world. It is an optical innovation company and seeks to tackle issues that are faced in the optical industry with advanced technology. The company is specialised in imaging processing, machine learning, computer vision, artificial intelligence, and more.
Geospatial Insight
Founders: Dan Schnurr Frics, Dave Fox
Funding: €4.2 million
Founded year: 2012
Why its hot: Geospatial Insight is a leading provider of independent research derived from satellite analysis, drone and aerial imagery, and integration of intelligence with other data sources. Its services provide clients in the fintech and insurtech industries with ground-breaking independent research in event impact assessment, investment evaluation, risk analysis, and asset monitoring.
Evezy
Founders:
Funding: €300k
Founded year: 2018
Why its hot: EVezy has devised a new EV model that provides users with the benefits of using an electric vehicle instead of having to own one. The electric vehicle subscription service lets users swap the vehicle. And, the company assures that customers will have access to an electric vehicle at anytime.
Stock photo from Kris Kuzniar/Shutterstock
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