The past 12 months have been tough for all industries, exacerbated by continued inflation and an uncertain job market in the UK and beyond.
Startups have been hit hard by this, with late-stage funding down for them by 75% in the first half of 2023.
However, history has shown that tough times only push companies to further innovate and adapt - leading to new opportunities for emerging industries. AI startups, for example, are raising 66% more capital on average than they were 18 months ago.
The seventh annual LinkedIn Top Startups list features 20 young UK companies that are gaining serious attention. The list was compiled by analysing employee growth, jobseeker interest, member engagement and talent of companies five years or younger.
In today’s Emerge5 we’ll be diving deeper into 5 tech-focused companies featured on the list; here are some of the more exciting shakers and movers you need to be aware of right now.
V7
V7 is a London-based startup creating software to help ML experts train their AI systems to do certain tasks. Founded in 2018 and currently housing 100+ employees, V7 aims to be the leader of AI-first software.
The meaning of V7’s name comes from the six commonly recognised areas of the human visual cortex (V1 to V6), and V7 being an extension of sight, recognition of shapes and a complex understanding of colour, form and motion.
V7 raised $33m in Series A funding in November 2022.
Otta.com
Founded in 2019, Otta.com is a platform designed to help people find jobs in the technology industry.
According to Otta’s mission statement, “everything [they] do aims to bring the out the best in you. Whether that’s being picky about the companies that make it onto the platform, recommending the kind of roles you jump up and down about, sharing insights to help you make smarter applications, or giving you the tools to express that you’re more than just a resume.”
Otta.com has just under 100 employees, around 35,000 followers on LinkedIn, and recently raised $20m in Series A funding.
Robin AI
Robin AI is used by hundreds of businesses globally to harness the power of generative AI for legal.
Believing in a world where “law moves at the speed of business”, Robin AI sells software to law firms that helps them to create, review and search contracts more efficiently.
They are backed by Google, Episode 1, Plural and Forward Partners, and have raised $10.5m in Series A funding since their founding in 2019.
Ben
Ben is a technology company with a passion for solving the hard problems people teams and business leaders encounter today more than ever in taking care of their teams.
Provides businesses with a flexible employee benefits platform that allows staff to pick and choose the benefits they're most. interested in, Ben was launched in 2019 and has around 130 employees.
According to Crunchbase, Ben has raised $16m in Series A funding so far.
Connect Fibre
Connect Fibre, founded in 2019, provides broadband services to homes and businesses across the UK.
Headquartered in London, Connect Fibre are backed by a multi-million investment from Foresight Group and work to provide reliable Hyperfast broadband up to 1000Mbps to homes and businesses in the UK.