THE UK’s longest-running index of the most promising new startups, the Startups 100, has released its 2024 lineup and this year it includes two Scottish startups, OK Positive and Ujaama Spice.
The Startups 100, run by Startups.co.uk, showcases the top 100 new UK businesses which exhibit innovation, solid financials, opportunity in their market, a great concept and a strong customer base or following.
The Startups 100 Index has been running for the last sixteen years, spanning all industries with the final list championing a huge range of inventive and original ideas.
Ujamaa Spice was also nominated for this year’s Startups 100 Just Started award, which celebrates fast-growth firms founded in the year before their application was submitted.
To support the launch of this year’s list, Startups.co.uk also surveyed 546 UK small businesses on their outlook for 2024. Scottish customers were identified as being the best at supporting local businesses. 79% of Scottish firms say strong customer relationships and loyalty have contributed to their success.
Customer loyalty could prove the secret to Scotland’s success this year. The Startups survey also found that 53% of Scotland-based firms feel optimistic about the year ahead, compared to just 13% that are not optimistic.
In previous years the Startups 100 index has predicted the success of huge names such as Monzo, Deliveroo, and Notonthehighstreet, so it is an extraordinary achievement for these promising businesses to have ranked on this acclaimed list.
77. OK Positive
OK Positive is a tech-powered platform identifying and pre-empting triggers that can cause mental health issues enabling early intervention.
Founders: Charlie Winton
Founded: 2019
Profile
OK Positive is on a mission to revolutionise the way we think about mental health. With a platform utilising machine learning and AI to identify and pre-empt triggers that may cause mental health issues.
The platform can start analysing preventative support to allow organisations, GPs, universities, and schools to intervene at an earlier stage to offer support. OK Positive’s approach is based on the widely used method of Acceptance and Commitment therapy.
OK Positive is already helping over 3,000 individuals with mental health support and has over 40 content partners.
81. Ujamaa Spice
Sources and sells single-origin, ethical, and traceable spices directly from farmers in Zanzibar.
Founders: Jawahir Al-Mauly and Rist Van de Weyer
Founded: 2022
Profile
Ujamaa was founded by Jawahir Al-Mauly and Rist Van de Weyer to address the issues of low-quality spices, criminal activities involving adulteration, and the economic plight of farmers.
Ujamaa sources its products directly from farmers without the use of wholesalers, and provides them with fair compensation.
Ujamaa has established key partnerships with restaurants, cafes, organic grocers, and sustainability organisations. The company’s ambitions are to become the leading ethical and sustainable spice company in the UK.
Managing Editor of Startups.co.uk, Richard Parris, commented:
“The ingenuity and innovation of the brands featuring in our annual Startups 100 index never ceases to amaze, and this year is no exception. Despite the crises of the past couple of years, we’ve seen some incredible businesses from every corner of the UK in our rankings. They may be tackling different challenges to one another, but there’s a shared mood of opportunity and an optimism for the year ahead that’s invigorating to see as we begin 2024.”
About the Index:
The Startups 100, run by Startups.co.uk, showcases the top 100 new UK businesses based on five key areas of analysis: finance, external validation, size of opportunity, innovativeness of idea and strength of concept.
As well as celebrating the best small businesses in the UK, the list is also an opportunity to grow a community of like-minded entrepreneurs and business owners who support and advocate for each other
