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BullyBillows
Harnesses, collars, leads, and ID tags are just some of the products sold by dog accessory brand BullyBillows. The company was founded in Nottingham in 2018 by Benjamin Billows and Anthony Koumi, initially operating from a spare bedroom. The founders initially started posting images of dogs to Instagram, raising money for local charities. As their content took off, they realised there was a business opportunity in selling pet accessories. Since then, the company has grown to 40 employees across offices in the UK, Czech Republic, and South Korea. BullyBillows has grown by leveraging social media competitions to expand its following and by strategically targeting the European market, helping sales reach £5.9m in the year ending November 2023.
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Brewgooder
Co-founded in 2016 by Alan Mahon and James Hughes, the pair conceived the idea of a beer brand guided by a non-profit Foundation that would invest in high impact projects at home and abroad to promote equity and opportunity. Over the 8 years’ since launching Brewgooder, the company has invested £250,000 in projects across the world including clean water projects, community fridges, inclusion, and sustainable sourcing initiatives. In 2023 they achieved 71% growth to hit sales of £4.2m, and count customers like Co-op, Waitrose and Sainsbury’s amongst their customers.
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Bold Bean Co
Amelia Christie-Miller founded Bold Bean Co in 2021 with a mission to ‘change the way we think about beans’. Having previously worked in food sustainability, Amelia was conscious of soil health, diversity and meat overconsumption. With millions of varieties available, soil-rejuvenating properties, and high protein content Amelia focussed on beans. Today, Bold Bean Co’s slow cooked jarred beans are used by some well-known chefs and are listed in Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, Marks & Spencer and Ocado, as well as in independent stores. The company launched their first recipe book, Bold Beans: Recipes to Get your Pulse Racing, by Octopus in July 2023.
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Batch LDN
Batch LDN is a fashion brand that creates reimagined versions of suits, released in made-to-order batches via their website. Launched in 2022 in London by Samuel Matanle and Julian Osborne, the brand aims to address the poor state of sustainability in the fashion industry. By manufacturing garments in named batches, Batch LDN minimises production waste by only producing what has been sold. The company offers detailed guides to help customers find the right size, including online fitting consultations, and has partnered with SOJO to provide door-to-door tailoring services. By ensuring proper fit, the company further reduces returns and the associated waste.
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Audiomob
Audiomob, co-founded by Forbes 30 Under 30 entrepreneurs Christian Facey and Wilfrid Obeng, enables brands and musicians to reach consumers and allows developers to monetize games and apps with audio ads, whilst maintaining user experience. Christian, an ex-advertising strategist at Google and Facebook, and Wilfrid, a former engineer at Google, J.P. Morgan, and Goldman Sachs, have led Audiomob since its inception in 2020. The company has executed campaigns for Xbox, Dr. Pepper, Babbel, and Sony Music, partnering with developers like TapNation and Lockwood. To date, the company has raised $15m from investors like Google and Makers Fund.
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XR Games
Founded in 2017, XR Games is a virtual reality and augmented reality game development studio based in Leeds. Its team of over 100 people create immersive games for PCs, consoles and mobiles. XR Games works with Sony Pictures to develop movie-licensed virtual reality as well as games for some of the world’s largest publishers and hardware manufacturers including Meta and PlayStation. Led by founder and chief executive Bobby Thandi, XR Games has raised $11.3m in equity funding, and continues to expand following the release of its virtual reality game ‘Zombieland: Headshot Fever’ in 2021.