Sep 28, 2021

This Week in London Startups - Issue #22, 28th September 2021

By London Startup Club • Issue #22 • View online

LinkedIn released its 5th annual LinkedIn Top Startups list in the UK last week.

This year’s report looked at four different areas; employee growth, jobseeker interest, member engagement and talent acquisition. Granted all this data comes from LinkedIn it may not be the most accurate, however still a great indication of companies that are doing well.

The other criteria is that each company must be 7 years or younger since it was founded, being a startup according to LinkedIn.

Here’s a look at the top 3, you can see the full list in the link above:

First place - Monzo

Though Monzo is still loss-making and has faced some bumps in recent months, the digital bank has raised £175 million in funding since Covid-19 struck and has around 5 million customers.

Second place - Revolut

This year Revolut became the UK’s most valuable fintech startup, valued at $33bn after a huge fundraising round. The firm, which applied for a UK banking licence in January, has 16 million customers worldwide and is branching out into services such as travel and salary advances.

Third place - Starling Bank

During the pandemic, Starling – which has more than 2 million customers in the UK – was one of the banks that lent under the government stimulus schemes. And, in a sign of future ambitions, Starling bought buy-to-let lender Fleet Mortgages in August.

Haris Qureshi, Editor & Co-Founder @ London Startup Club

Top News

LinkedIn is testing a new, paid ticketed events service, more here
UK’s AI strategy is ‘ambitious’ but needs funding to match, says Faculty’s Marc Warner, more here
Neobanks latest ploy involves *ultra* cheap insurance, more here
Ford, SK to spend $11.4B to build two US manufacturing campuses dedicated to EVs and batteries, more here
Spotify alums join forces to create Berlin angel syndicate, Spoti Angels, more here
Amazon launches computer science education program Future Engineer in India, more here
France sees biggest ever week for startup funding, more here
Move over London, we want to work closer to home, more here
Facebook’s wearable glasses can succeed where Google Glass flopped, more here
TikTok reached 1 billion monthly active users, more here
Can Improbable get its metaverse ambitions back on track with this stealth project? More here
Swedish EV-maker Polestar to go public via SPAC at $20B valuation, more here

UK Funding Rounds

Multiverse raises $130m Series C, more here
London’s Dice raises $122M at a $400M valuation for its intelligent event discovery and booking platform, more here
SenseOn nabs $20M for faster, more accurate cybersecurity detection and response via its ‘triangulation’ approach, more here
Cheesecake Energey raised £1M funding for its game-changing tech, more here
London-based health startup ,Sanome, snaps up £2M to turbocharge diagnostics development with clinically validated home testing, more here
Reading-based spacetech firm Isotropic Systems bags £27M to develop unique multi-link antenna, more here
London-based music licensing marketplace Lickd secures £5.1M funding, more here
London-based HR tech Diversely secures £401K to help businesses hire more diverse candidates, more here
London-based open banking solution Vyne secures £11.3M funding as it focuses on growth, more here
London-based LVNDR raises £1.5M as it seeks to address inequalities within sexual health system, more here
London-based waste management startup Recycleye raises £3.5M to solve waste epidemic with AI & robotics, more here
London-based digital ID startup cheqd secures £1.9M funding, more here
London-based Vinterior raises £8M funding to make vintage decor accessible to everyone, more here
Sunday wants to become the PayPal of restaurants, nets $100M funding in 5 months after launch, more here
London-based Mojo, world’s first app to help men get smart about sexual health raises £3.25M, more here
Amazon and eBay ‘super seller’ from the UK, Boulevard bags £2.2M funding from Fuel Ventures, more here
London’s Wiserfunding secures £3M to disrupt the SME credit risk space, more here

International Highlights

Cyber insurance firm Coalition lands $205M at Series E, valued at $3.5B, more here
Burro raises $10.9M for autonomous produce field transport, more here
Cyber insurance firm Coalition lands $205M at Series E, valued at $3.5B, more here
Swan raises $18.7 million to provide embedded banking services, more here
Amazon-backed buy now, pay later platform Capital Float raises $50 million, more here
Optimove raises $75M growth investment to manage customer-led journeys at scale, more here