188 young UK entrepreneur superstars revealed

The Hurun Research Institute has released its annual Under30s and Under35s lists of young British entrepreneurial talent.

Some 79 entrepreneurs feature on the Hurun UK Under 30s list, while 109 feature on the Under 35s list.

They feature well-known billionaires such as Gymshark’s Ben Francis and Johnny Boufarhat of Hopin, the video conferencing service that thrived during the pandemic but has since sold off its core business units to a California tech giant.

Also featuring are lesser-known entrepreneurs who have quickly built businesses worth at least $10 million.

Twenty-two of the business leaders have created unicorns – ventures worth at least $1bn. Boufarhat created the most valuable company of the U30s – his video conferencing operation was valued at $5.7bn by its final funding round.

Two fellow unicorn founders among the Under 30s are Christian Owens and Harrison Rose, who set up online payments provider Paddle.

The most valuable company created by the U35 cohort is Blockchain. Peter Smith co-founded the cryptocurrency wallet service and fundraising has valued the operation at £4bn. 

Three FinTech pioneers behind Lendable – Martin Kissinger, Victoria van Lennep and Jakob Schwarz – also appear in the Under 35 list. The credit provider was valued at £3.5bn by a similar fundraising.

Herman Narula, Peter Lipka and Robert Whitehead teamed up to launch Improbable – a developer of virtual worlds valued at $3b – and appear on the Under 35 list. Other unicorns with founders who feature in Hurun’s research include Beamery, Marshmallow, Tractable and Wayve.

This year’s new entries include Susie Ma, the Shanghai-born entrepreneur behind Tropic Skincare. A former contestant on The Apprentice, Ma secured investment from Lord Alan Sugar after appearing in the reality TV show and her London cosmetics brand has grown turnover to £64.8m.

The 2024 debutants also include Phil and Tom Beahon, founders of sports clothing label Castore. A recent fundraising recently valued the brothers’ Manchester-based business at £750m. Tennis star Sir Andy Murray is one of the investors backing the group.

Barney Hussey-Yeo is one of 15 entrepreneurs from the FinTech sector. His app-based service Cleo, star of our sister publication BusinessCloud’s FinTech 50 ranking last year, helps users keep tabs on their spending habits. A fundraising last year valued the venture at $500m.

Cleo – The AI assistant dedicated to personal finance

“Our research shows Britain’s entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well,” said Rupert Hoogewerf, Hurun’s report chairman and chief researcher. 

“Many of these young business leaders have managed to quickly build successful companies despite a difficult geo-political environment, persistent inflation, and the many other headwinds our economies have experienced in recent years.

“We believe each of our Under30s have quickly built businesses worth $10m. The enterprises created by our more experienced Under35s group are each worth around $50m. 

“Some are worth a hundred times that. In time we expect many of our young Under30s to graduate to the more senior list as their ventures take flight.”

Forty women appear in this year’s lists. Twins Joyce and Raissa de Haas launched Double Dutch Drinks in 2015. Their mixers are now stocked in more than 5,000 places and are exported to over 20 countries.

There is also a strong showing for young business leaders from ethnic minority backgrounds, reflecting Britain’s diverse entrepreneurial landscape. In just five years of trading Vishal Karia has grown annual sales at his wholesaler Affinity Fragrances to more than £100m.

Record year for Mercia as annual investments reach £281m

Hoogewerf added: “Hurun’s analysis shows that while there is extensive home-grown talent across the UK, Britain is also a magnet for entrepreneurs from around the world. 

“World-class universities attract some of the very brightest people to this country and after completing their studies these graduates often decide to launch their businesses here.”

“By analysing the backgrounds of our Under 30s and Under 35s we’ve been able to learn about how many of these co-founders met one another. There were some who met at school and others who got to know each other while working together at an investment bank or in another graduate job. But we can also see that universities are playing a crucial role in bringing like-minded people with a passion for enterprise together.”

The universities of Cambridge and Oxford each had 12 representatives. There were also strong showings for three universities in London. Imperial College London, University College London and King’s College London had 10, 8 and 6 of their graduates in this year’s research. Five of the founders attended Bristol and there were four each from Durham, Edinburgh, the London School of Economics, Loughborough, Nottingham, Southampton and Warwick. However, 23 of the entrants did not attend university.

Most (116) of the entrepreneurs featured in this year’s Hurun UK U30 and U35s have based their ventures in London. There are 19 in the South East, 17 in the Midlands and 13 in the North West.

Manchester-based Alex Solomou has turned LADBible from a small Facebook group into a publishing platform with revenues of around £63m. He floated the media group on the stock market two years ago with a value of £360m and the shares have climbed strongly over the past year.

Solomou was one of eight of this year’s Hurun UK Under 30s and Under 35s to have based their businesses in Manchester, making the city the second most popular choice after London. Bristol and Birmingham each have four entrepreneurs who appear in this year’s lists. Edinburgh, Maidstone, Nottingham, Plymouth and Solihull each have three.

To appear in the Hurun UK Under30s list a person needed to have either founded or co-founded a company judged to be worth around $10m. Inclusion in the Under35s list required entrants to have built a business worth around $50m.

The Hurun UK Under30s and Hurun UK Under35s are part of a family of over 1,600 young entrepreneurs from 5 countries, the others being China, India, US and Canada.

Hurun UK Under 30s 2023

Name	Enterprise	Industry	Headquarters
Ankush Jain	Aaro Capital	Blockchain	London
Molly Allington	Albotherm	ClimateTech	Bristol
Sian Fussell	Albotherm	ClimateTech	Bristol
Shun Pang	Anima	Health Tech	London
Cyril Lutterodt	Black Seed	Investments	London
Patrick Reich	Bonnet	Clean Energy	London
Eliot Makabu	Bonnet	Clean Energy	London
Benjamin Shalom	Boxxer	Media	Radlett
Phil Beahon	Castore	Fitness	Manchester
Ahana Banerjee	Clear	Social Media	London
Dalraj Nijjar	Concrete4Change	Construction	Nottingham
Daniel Hardman	CoreBlue	SaaS	Plymouth
Lewis Boyles-White	CoreBlue	SaaS	Plymouth
Alberto Zandi	Emerald Hospitality Group	Food & Beverages	London
Arian Zandi	Emerald Hospitality Group	Food & Beverages	London
Jack Bullimore	EvolveYou	Fitness	London
Alec Kwaye	Felfri Diamonds	Online Retail	London
Izzy Obeng	Foundervine	Enterprise Services	London
Joe Wilkinson	Heat	On-Demand Delivery	London
Mario Maher	Heat	Online Retail	London
Murvah Iqbal	Hived	Logistics	London
Mathias Krieger	Hived	Logistics	London
Craig Everett	Holibob	Enterprise Services	London
Angus Hardy	Holibob	Enterprise Services	London
Hannah Chappatte	HYBR	Real Estate	Bristol
Simon Swali	iCare24 / Muve People	Enterprise Services	Birmingham
Zhang Zhening	JAD Motor	Consumer Goods	Birmingham
Daniel Knight	Kinetic Games	Gaming	Southampton
Nathan Moore	Live Tech Games	Gaming	London
Samuel Worsley	Live Tech Games	Gaming	London
Will Donnelly	Lottie	Health Tech	London
Natasha Boulding	Low Carbon Materials	Real Estate Tech	Durham
Scott Bush	Low Carbon Materials	Real Estate Tech	Durham
Cristiana Banila	Mitra Bio	Apparels & Accessories	London
Sally Wynter	Muhu / PaperRound	Food & Beverages	London
Amy Knight	Must Have Ideas	Online Retail	Maidstone
Oli Banks	North Property Group	Real Estate	Leeds
Connor Westby	NutriPaw	Food & Beverages	London
Adelina Cornelia Zotta	NutriPaw	Food & Beverages	London
Aimee Smale	Old Muse	Apparels & Accessories	London
Matthew Wilson	Omnipresent	SaaS	London
Krissy Cela	One Active / EvolveYou	Fitness	London
Connor Campbell	Osler Diagnostics	Health Tech	Oxford
Harrison Rose	Paddle	FinTech	London
Christian Owens	Paddle	FinTech	London
Hayden Ball	PlayerData	Fitness	Edinburgh
Roy Hotrabhvanon	PlayerData	Fitness	Edinburgh
Nicolas Sabatier	Prediko	SaaS	London
Youri Moskovic	Prediko	SaaS	London
Wenmiao Yu	Quantum Dice	Quantum Tech	Oxford
Ramy Shelbaya	Quantum Dice	Cyber Security	Oxford
Jordan Richards	RCCO Creative	Enterprise Services	London
Jess Hunt	Refy	Apparels & Accessories	Manchester
George Heaton	Represent	Apparels & Accessories	Bolton
Carrie Rose	Rise at Seven	Marketing	Sheffield
Saurav Mitra	SigmaOS	SaaS	London
Ali Attar	SigmaOS	SaaS	London
Mahyad Ghassemibouyaghchi	SigmaOS	SaaS	London
Simmy Dhillon	Simmer	Food & Beverages	Hitchin
Jhai Dhillon	Simmer	Food & Beverages	Hitchin
Josephine Philips	Sojo	Apparels & Accessories	London
Raphael Guth	Sprout.AI	InsureTech	London
Lewis Campbell	Target Healthcare	Health Tech	Glasgow
Dmitry Kazhdan	Tenyks	Artificial Intelligence	Cambridge
Botty Dimanov	Tenyks	Artificial Intelligence	Cambridge
Laurence Booth-Clibborn	The Mothership	New Retail	London
Philip Kelvin	Tranch	FinTech	London
Zoe Trigwell	Trigwell Cosmetics	Apparels & Accessories	Cwmbran
Ben Spring	TryHackMe	Cyber Security	London
Ashu Savani	TryHackMe	Cyber Security	London
Georgia Stewart	Tumelo	SaaS	Bristol
Ruby Aryiku	Vamp	Brandtech	London
Rumbi Mupindu	Vamp	Enterprise Services	London
Christina Okorocha	Vamp	Enterprise Services	London
Jamie Genevieve	Vieve	Consumer Goods	Glasgow
Daniel Stewart	ViridiCO2	ClimateTech	Southampton
Ionut Visla	Visla Recruitment	Enterprise Services	London
Ollie Brittan	Whites Beaconsfield	Consumer Goods	Beaconsfield
Louis Ray Smith	X1 Property	Real estate	Liverpool

Hurun UK Under 35s 2023

Name	Enterprise	Industry	Headquarters
Peter Habermacher	Aaro Capital	Blockchain	London
Darcy Laceby	Absolute Collagen	Consumer Goods	London
Jacob Haddad	accuRx	Health Tech	London
Laurence Bargery	accuRx	Health Tech	London
Vishal Karia	Affinity Fragrances	Consumer Goods	Slough
Josh Graham	Airtime Rewards	Fintech	Manchester
Jackson Quinn	AU Vodka	Food & Beverages	Swansea
Charlie Morgan	AU Vodka	Food & Beverages	Swansea
Christian Facey	AudioMob	Gaming	London
Wilfrid Obeng	AudioMob	Gaming	London
Kristian Edgerton	AYBL / Because of Alice	Apparels & Accessories	Redditch
Reiss Edgerton	AYBL / Tamroc / Because of Alice	Apparels & Accessories	Redditch
Zachary Williamson	Aztec Protocol	Blockchain	London
Joe Andrews	Aztec Protocol	Blockchain	London
Kai Feller	Bark.com	Enterprise Services	London
Sultan Murad Saidov	Beamery	Artificial Intelligence	London
Elliot Lees-Bell	Beyond Retail	Construction	Bournemouth
Sebastien Cross	BeZero	ClimateTech	London
Megan Rossi	Bio&Me	Food & Beverages	London
Arthur Kay	Bio-Bean	Clean Energy	London
Peter Smith	Blockchain	Blockchain	Stockport
Thomas Beahon	Castore	Fitness	Manchester
Ben Maruthappu	Cera	Health Tech	London
Ed Gillett	CharterSync	Logistics	Maidstone
Simon Watson	CharterSync	Aerospace	Maidstone
Charlie Wilson	Chase New Homes / Wilson Properties London	Real Estate	Welwyn Garden City
Alex Latham	Chip	FinTech	London
Barney Hussey-Yeo	Cleo	FinTech	London
Michael Wise	Concrete4Change	Construction	Nottingham
Dmitry Tokarev	Copper	FinTech	London
Fateha Begum	Dare International	FinTech	London
Ayman Rahman	Dare International	FinTech	London
Dominic Falcao	Deep Science Ventures	Investments	London
Joyce de Haas	Double Dutch Drinks	Food & Beverages	London
Raissa de Haas	Double Dutch Drinks	Food & Beverages	London
Alex Mills	Dynamo Cover	Insurance	Barry
Michael Rocha-Keys	EMW Global	Media	London
Giuseppe Mazza	Engitix Therapeutics	Health Tech	London
Charles Armitage	Florence Healthcare	Enterprise Services	London
Ben Francis	Gymshark	Apparels & Accessories	Solihull
Lewis Morgan	Gymshark / Ernest Cole	Apparels & Accessories	Solihull
Alessio Bruni	Heroes	Consumer Goods	London
Riccardo Bruni	Heroes	Consumer Goods	London
Jack Cator	HideMyAss	SaaS	London
James Asquith	Holiday Swap	Real Estate Tech	London
Johnny Boufarhat	Hopin	Communications Platform	London
Jianshu Gao	HungryPanda	Food & Beverages	London
Bocheng Du	HungryPanda	Food & Beverages	London
Zhiheng Zhao	HungryPanda	Food & Beverages	London
Eric Liu	HungryPanda	Food & Beverages	London
David Swali	iCare24	Enterprise Services	Birmingham
Bobby Swali	iCare24	Enterprise Services	Birmingham
John Swali	iCare24	Enterprise Services	Birmingham
Robert Whitehead	Improbable	SaaS	London
Peter Lipka	Improbable	SaaS	London
Herman Narula	Improbable	SaaS	London
Jade Goulden	Jaded London	Apparels & Accessories	Borehamwood
Grant Goulden	Jaded London	Apparels & Accessories	Borehamwood
Abe Simpson	Kingsley Developments	Real Estate	Plymouth
Alex Solomou	LADBible	Media	Manchester
Jakob Schwarz	Lendable	FinTech	London
Victoria van Lennep	Lendable	FinTech	London
Martin Kissinger	Lendable	FinTech	London
Ahmed Shahrabani	Locum's Nest	Enterprise Services	London
Umang Gandecha	Londonist DMC	Real Estate	London
Melanie Marsden	Lounge Underwear	Apparels & Accessories	Solihull
Daniel Marsden	Lounge Underwear	Apparels & Accessories	Solihull
Tommy Mallet	Mallet London	Apparels & Accessories	London
Evren Ozkarakasli	Mallet London	Apparels & Accessories	London
David Goate	Marshmallow	InsureTech	London
Oliver Kent-Braham	Marshmallow	InsureTech	London
Alexander Kent-Braham	Marshmallow	InsureTech	London
Tanvi Bhardwaj	MishiPay	FinTech	London
Marine Tanguy	MTArt	Enterprise Services	London
Jordan Brompton	myenergi	Clean Energy	Stallingborough
Husayn Kassai	Onfido	Artificial Intelligence	London
Alex Frolov	Palta	Health Tech	London
Jesse Shemen	Papercup	Artificial Intelligence	London
Firmin Zocchetto	Payfit	SaaS	London
Pei-Hao Su	PolyAI	Artificial Intelligence	London
Nikola Mrkšić	PolyAI	Artificial Intelligence	London
Joe Chadd	Prestige Cars Kent	Consumer Goods	Orpington
Yaniv Toledano	Qogita	SaaS	London
Jenna Meek	Refy / Shine	Apparels & Accessories	Manchester
Mike Heaton	Represent	Apparels & Accessories	Bolton
Orlagh McCloskey	RIXO	Apparels & Accessories	London
Richard Robinson	Robin AI	Artificial Intelligence	London
James Clough	Robin AI	Artificial Intelligence	London
Joel Watt	Rooser	Food & Beverages	Edinburgh
Eamon Jubbawy	Sequence	FinTech	Canterbury
Riya Grover	Sequence / Feedr	FinTech	Canterbury
Anna Lowe	Smartify	Media	London
Harry Stebbings	Stride VC and 20 VC	Investments	London
Alistair Adams	Telcom	Real Estate Tech	Manchester
Thom Seddon	Telcom	Real Estate Tech	Manchester
Jay Parker	The Gym King	Fitness	Leeds
James Whiting	The Skinny Food Company	Food & Beverages	Nottingham
Eliot Brooks	Thriva / Cocoon	Health Tech	London
Adrien Cohen	Tractable	InsureTech	London
Razvan Ranca	Tractable	InsureTech	London
Alexandre Dalyac	Tractable	InsureTech	London
Olivia Ferdi	Trip	Food & Beverages	London
Susie Ma	Tropic Skincare	Apparels & Accessories	London
Tom Carter	Ultraleap	SaaS	Bristol
Chris Donnelly	Verb Brands / Lottie	Social Media	London
Alex Kendall	Wayve	Artificial Intelligence	London
Amar Shah	Wayve / CHARM Therapeutics	Artificial Intelligence	London
Herman Sahota	Wingstop UK	Food & Beverages	London
Tom Grogan	Wingstop UK	Food & Beverages	London