-
LoveRaw
Husband and wife team Manav and Rimi Thapar started LoveRaw: a plant based chocolate brand with £600 and a food processor. Today, the confectionery is sold in 20 countries, and stockists include Asda, Coop and WH Smith. LoveRaw secured £2m of funding from investor Blue Horizon Ventures in 2020, after rejecting an offer in the BBC’s Dragons’ Den two years earlier. The family-run firm is based in Altrincham, Greater Manchester, and products launched this year include vegan peanut butter cups in milk and white chocolate flavours.
-
Lick
This online, home decor start-up delivers eco-friendly paints, wallpaper and tools directly to the consumer. It also offers peel-and-stick paint samples, design tips, and virtual consultations with colour experts. Launched in 2020 by Lucas London and Sam Bradley, the company raised $22m last year from investors including Omers Ventures, Zoopla founder Alex Chesterman, and Tetra Pak heir Magnus Rausing. In 2021, sales hit £5.2m, boosted by online demand for home improvement products during the pandemic. This year, the London company launched Lick Pro for trade customers and acquired Eco-Union, a brand of sustainable decorating tools.
-
Huma
Huma’s ‘healthtech’ platform monitors patients remotely via an app. Patients with cardiac failure, diabetes, musculoskeletal issues, rare diseases and more, use an app to remotely relay their health information to clinicians and researchers. Huma claims that its platform can lower mortality rates, almost double clinical capacity and cut hospital readmission rates by a third. It supports a network of 27m patients and works with over 3,000 hospitals, clinics, academic institutions and pharmaceutical firms such as AstraZeneca, J&J and Bayer. Founded in 2011 by Dan Vahdat and Rich Khatib, Huma has raised $250m to date.
-
Fabulosa
In January, this household cleaning brand unveiled a 59,000 sq ft facility in Nantwich, Cheshire, housing its new headquarters, warehouse and factory. The family-run firm was set up in 2019 by father-and-son team Mike and James Sharpe, and it specialises in fragranced products, such as lemon lavender disinfectant, cinnamon-scented polish, and chamomile antibacterial spray. Fabulosa is stocked by retailers such as Amazon, Poundland and Aldi, and in 2021, the brand launched in B&M stores in France. Sales rose 79% last year to £34.7m.
-
Elvie
This femtech business develops women’s health products, including a wearable breast pump and an exercise aid to strengthen the pelvic floor. Chief executive Tania Boler partnered with technology entrepreneur Alex Asseily to set up the London-based firm in 2013. Sales rose 85% in 2020 to £36.5m, boosted by rapid growth in America and expansion into 10 new markets across the EU and Asia. Elvie also launched two new breastfeeding products that year. In 2021, it raised £70m from investors, including BGF, BlackRock and Octopus Ventures, to fund innovation, infrastructure, and geographical expansion.
-
Dr. Will’s
Dr Will’s is on a mission to reduce our sugar consumption. Its sauces, dressings and mayonnaise are made with only natural ingredients and are sweetened with dates rather than added sugar. Its eponymous cofounder, Dr Will Breakey, teamed up with Liam White and Josh Rose to launch its products in 2017, and they have since won listings in the likes of Tesco and Waitrose. In 2021, they secured £1.1m on crowdfunding platform Seedrs to invest in marketing, e-commerce, recruitment and packaging.