SoPost has built a digital sampling platform which enables over 200 brands, including Estée Lauder, L’Oréal and Unilever, to run data-driven online sampling campaigns. SoPost’s technology is available in 20 markets, utilising a global distribution network to ship samples direct to participating consumers’ homes. Founded in 2012 by Jonathan Grubin, the company is headquartered in Newcastle upon Tyne, with international presence in five countries. SoPost generates about two-thirds of its sales outside the UK and has raised £1.6m in funding to date.
I caught the entrepreneurial bug aged 13…I’m now running a £20m business
More Founder Stories
How my side hustle became a multi-million pound business
Lucy Locket Loves makes colourful fitness clothing and accessories for women. The Derbyshire business caters for a wide range of body shapes, with sizes spanning six to 26. Former personal trainer Lucy Arnold founded the company in 2018 after suffering a back injury. While recovering, she created leggings to sell to former clients. Customers include Made In Chelsea star Rosie Fortescue and the company launched a collection with Strictly’s Dianne Buswell last year.
Against all odds: The man who built a hotel empire from nothing but a dream and an iron will…
In the pantheon of British entrepreneurs to have navigated enormous, spirit-crushing roadblocks to turn their dreams into reality, one pushing for kingpin status is 58-year-old Surinder Arora – founder, owner and chairman of Arora Hotels. We spoke to him about his fascinating journey…
James Cadbury: Building his own chocolate empire
Love Cocoa was created in 2016 by James Cadbury, who was inspired by his great-great-great grandfather John Cadbury who founded Cadbury Chocolate in 1824. Love Cocoa has an ethical and sustainable focus: its chocolate bars are free from gluten and palm oil and use recyclable and compostable packaging.
‘How we made tofu sexy’
Tofoo produces organic, gluten-, dairy- and yeast-free products from soybeans. Husband-and-wife team Dave Knibbs and Lydia Smith have built the business to sales of £18.6m in 2021. The North Yorkshire firm says it is the fourth-largest brand in the chilled meat-free market, with more than one million households buying its products regularly. Its recent growth is partly due to winning listings in major retailers including Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose.
HIGH FIVES, CHAMPAGNE AND A KILLER SERIES-A
James Jackson and Jack Allman co-founded Bumper in 2013. Today, backed by Porsche Ventures, Jaguar Land Rover and Silicon Valley’s finest, they are building something special… In 2021, Bumper co-founders James Jackson and Jack Allman closed their Series-A funding round. High fives and Champagne followed – and plenty of it. The duo and their team […]
Being an entrepreneur is probably the worst way to make money…you have to be in it for the adventure!
This ‘insurtech’ start-up uses technology to deliver online insurance and detect fraud. It offers insurance policies to renters and people in house shares, as well as homeowners, and has amassed more than 100,000 customers since it was founded in 2016 by Jimmy Williams and Greg Smyth. This May, the London-based company secured £16.5m in a […]