Liam Ward, January 30, 2020 10 min read
After a nationwide call-out and an intensive and thorough judging process, we are delighted to announce the 30 companies joining Tech Nation’s flagship programme for mid-stage, fast-growing tech companies: Upscale 5.0.
“The UK has a fantastic track record of producing globally successful tech companies and this is another strong group of firms that will benefit from Tech Nation’s Upscale programme. It highlights the strength and diversity of our digital economy with startups in fintech, retail and recruitment. We are doing all we can to ensure the tech sector gets the support it needs to thrive.” Digital Minister Matt Warman
With previous cohorts including companies such as Elvie, Bulb and Bloom & Wild, the prestige that the Upscale programme carries is high. Not only that, but the calibre of judges on our judging panel represent incredible expertise, including names such as Sarah Wood, author of Stepping Up and Cherry Freeman, CEO of LoveCrafts.
“It’s incredibly exciting to announce the 30 companies joining the Upscale 5.0 programme, especially with many of this year’s cohort using technology to address important societal issues around health, waste and education. Through workshops and peer networking, Tech Nation’s Upscale programme helps some of the UK’s most disruptive tech companies solve crucial scaling challenges, including international expansion, hiring and retaining talent at pace and developing leadership capabilities.” Liam Ward, Upscale Lead, Tech Nation
London | Ecommerce & Marketplace | @@allplants allplants deliver delicious meals straight to your door, making plant-based living easy, convenient, delicious, and on people’s schedules. Created so both people and the planet can thrive, allplants meals are chef-prepared, flash frozen and totally plant-based. Cardiff | Artificial Intelligence | @/amplyfitech AMPLYFI is using AI and machine learning to revolutionise global business intelligence and market research. Their learning platforms unlock the entire internet to generate unprecedented business insights through groundbreaking products. AMPLYFI analyse both the surface and deep web to help businesses proactively plan for future disruptions. Manchester | SaaS | @@arctic_shores Flying the flag for diversity, inclusion and equality, Arctic Shores makes the recruitment process more engaging, objective and fair. Using data-driven psychometric tests that combine neuroscience, AI and game technology, they try to eliminate bias when it comes to hiring and promoting people and look past the CV, focusing on potential rather than just experience, background or seniority. London | SaaS | @@chattermillAI Revolutionising the customer experience, Chattermill uses AI to help large organisations understand and improve how they interact with their consumers. Chattermill analyses customer feedback at scale and automatically identifies specific recommendations for how their clients can continuously deliver better services and products to their customers. Cambridge | Healthtech & Biotech | @@eaglegen Helping companies make more accurate and credible scientific claims, Eagle Genomics’ uses machine learning to transform raw data into actionable insights that drive scientific decision making. Improving brand perception and research and development processes, Eagle Genomics’ unique expertise gives insights that enable quick assessment of product potential, mitigate risks and reduces time to market. London | Ecommerce & Marketplace | @@eporta_ The leading B2B platform for interior design professionals worldwide, eporta has transformed the $700bn per year interior design industry. eporta’s platform helps interior designers, property developers, architects, hospitality owners and more, to power their projects and design seamlessly. London | Blockchain | @@everledgerio Tackling issues of verification and piracy, Everledger’s technology creates a secure and permanent digital record of an asset’s origin, characteristics and ownership on their private blockchain. This transparency helps industries respond to growing expectations for sustainable, verifiable sourcing. London | Lawtech | @@farewill Changing the way the world deals with death, Farewill helps the UK sort out legally binding wills and probate from the comfort of their own home, quickly, easily and sensitively, while removing the expense and hassle of seeing a solicitor in person. London | Ecommerce & Marketplace | @@WeAreFlorence Florence builds the technology to power the healthcare workforce. Its goal is to use technology to solve the dramatic challenges surrounding a shortage of healthcare staff globally. It does this by creating software that helps healthcare providers build, train and operate a flexible staffing pool. Its core product, Florence Flex, is a temporary staffing marketplace that connects care providers to nurses and care workers looking for extra shifts. It has supporting SaaS tools that help care providers onboard, roster and train their internal staff pools. London | Healthtech & Biotech | @@kheironmedical Helping doctors find breast cancer earlier and more accurately, Kheiron Medical works with radiologists, and uses data and machine learning to build products that help breast radiologists in their daily practice. Improving accuracy in the field, it also addresses a growing global workforce shortage. London | @@LandTechUK Revamping the world of property development, LandTech helps you find land, get through planning and raise funding in a more streamlined, convenient way. With over 1,500 clients, of which 80% are SME property developers, to date they have added an additional 10,000 homes to the UK housing market. London | Lawtech | @@Lexoo Providing corporations with a true alternative to traditional global law firms, Lexoo delivers next generation legal services by combining tech, process and a network of over 1000 former BigLaw lawyers in 70 countries. Work is delivered to a higher standard, more quickly and at roughly 50% of the cost. Belfast | Healthtech & Biotech | @@neurovalens Aiming to transform the world of neurology, Neurovalens wants to treat global neurological health issues by influencing the brain and nervous system using safe and non-invasive technology. This technology aims to replace drugs as the first-line treatments for obesity, diabetes, insomnia and anxiety. London | Ecommerce & Marketplace | @@OddboxLDN Over ⅓ of farmed fruit and veg goes to waste either because they’re surplus to requirements or don’t make strict supermarket requirements on shape, size, or colour. Oddbox helps reduce this structural problem in the industry. With every medium Oddbox, an average of 7 kgs of veg is saved from going to waste, as well as 14 kg of CO2 emissions (the equivalent of 35 miles in a car) and 1,722 litres of water (the equivalent of 12 showers). Leeds | Artificial Intelligence | @@panintelligence Delivering data solutions that enhance ways of working, Panintelligence’s predictive analytics and data visualisation software is designed to be white-labelled by software vendors, who use it to accelerate their roadmap. Based in Leeds, they have over 100 partners across all verticals and 200,000 users globally. London | Tech For Good | @@peanut_app Empowering women all over the world to unite, Peanut is a social network for women, connecting them through their experiences with fertility and motherhood. It enables women at similar life stages to meet, connect and form meaningful communities. Manchester | SaaS | @@pimberlypim Changing the game in SaaS, Pimberly delivers an immersive, hyper personalised, omni-channel product experience for millions of products. Made for Product Information Management and Digital Asset Management, it’s used by manufacturers, distributors and retailers to market and sell products across multiple sales channels. London | Fintech | @@withplum Helping over 500,000 people in the UK grow their money, Plum is an AI assistant that boosts your bank balance. It works by using automation to save, switch bills and invest in a personalised way. With the help of Plum, savers can be £186k better off over their lifetime. London | Ecommerce & Marketplace | @@Seatfrog Fancy an upgrade? Seatfrog is the travel app that is here to make upgrading your seat amazing. Seatfrog’s mission is to take every journey beyond the ordinary, and it’s starting by helping passengers live a little more, with a simple, honest and stress-free way to upgrade their seat. London | Lawtech | @seedlegals The world's first and only automated legal service for funding rounds, SeedLegals make it super easy for startups to raise investment and manage company equity at a fraction of the cost of traditional service providers. No paper. No law firms. No accountants. Everything's done digitally on their platform. Launching back in 2016, today they are the largest closer of funding rounds in the UK. Newcastle | Adtech & Marketing | @@sopost SoPost helps brands run the most powerful product sampling campaigns in the world, with a focus on relevance, data and analytics. SoPost gets physical trial products into consumers' hands through media campaigns, influencer partnerships, and content. It works with hundreds of brands including L'Oreal and Estee Lauder, and sends one sample every couple of seconds. London | Adtech & Marketing | @@spirable_hq Generating personalised, data-driven brand videos at scale, Spirable works with world-leading brands to increase engagement and conversion. Videos are personalised to an individual level, enriched with data from live data-feeds, and delivered through social channels and CRM platforms. Cambridge | Lawtech | @@ThoughtRiverCI ThoughtRiver solves a fundamental problem for lawyers: you simply don’t know which part of a contract to focus on without reading it all. Pre-screening technology automates the review process by reading the contract, answering key legal questions and then serving up detailed advice and guided remediation within Microsoft Word. London | Healthtech & Biotech | @@thrivahealth Health tracking made simple, Thriva helps you find out what's happening inside your body with a simple finger-prick blood test. Samples are reviewed by an NHS approved lab, and a doctor walks you through your results, giving personalised advice on your health. Regular testing enables customers to keep track of how their lifestyle decisions actually affect them internally over time. Brighton | Ecommerce & Marketplace | @@Housesitting Empowering thousands of people to travel while pets stay happy at home, TrustedHousesitters enables the mutual exchange of house and pet sitting. In return, trustworthy house and pet sitters can often find luxurious homes to 'sit' for free. From villas in Tuscany, apartments in NYC, to beach houses in Caribbean, with members in over 100 countries, this is the largest house and pet sitting platform globally. London | Enterprise Software & Cloud Computing | @@tyk_io Tyk is an open-source API Gateway that is fast, scalable and modern. Powering microservice platform enterprises across the globe, with offices in London, Singapore and Atlanta, and team members in 20+ countries. Out of the box, Tyk offers an API Management Platform with an API Gateway, API Analytics, Developer Portal and API Management Dashboard. London | Adtech & Marketing | @@vidsyhq Powering mobile video ad creation for the world’s leading brands, Vidsy’s technology and global community of 6,000+ vetted creators and fully managed services, empowers brands to intelligently transform their digital advertising for an ever-evolving world of mobile video. London | Edtech | @@WhiteHatGB Diversifying the world’s future leaders, WhiteHat is building an outstanding alternative to university. It works with some of the world's best employers to identify, hire, and develop diverse talent through apprenticeships. Every apprentice gets access to a thriving on and offline community and an individual coach to help ensure they're successful in their chosen career. London | Edtech | @@ZenEducate Moving away from inefficient recruitment agencies, Zen Educate is an online platform that matches teachers with available supply teaching roles in schools. An accredited social enterprise, Zen Educate aim to save the education system £100s of millions a year. London | Supply Chain Solutions | @@zencargoltd Helping the world's fastest-growing businesses turn their supply chains into a competitive advantage, Zencargo collects real-time data on the progress of each product and acts as a single version of truth for teams to uncover insights and opportunities. Expert consultants use these learnings to create, implement and iterate bespoke solutions that increase revenue, optimise working capital, control costs and reduce environmental impact. allplants
AMPLYFI
Arctic Shores
Chattermill
Eagle Genomics
eporta
Everledger
Farewill
Florence
Kheiron Medical
LandTech
Lexoo
Neurovalens
Oddbox
Panintelligence
Peanut
Pimberly
Plum
Seatfrog
SeedLegals
SoPost
Spirable
ThoughtRiver
Thriva
TrustedHousesitters
Tyk
Vidsy
WhiteHat
Zen Educate
Zencargo
“The Upscale cohort once again represents the most exciting up and coming tech companies in the UK. I’m delighted to support the programme this year, and support the valuable work done by Tech Nation in addressing the key challenges faced by fast-growth companies, whether it be going global, managing a board or retaining talent.” Sarah Wood, Tech Founder, Board Director and Author of Stepping Up
Investment in scaling companies in the UK is on the increase, with UK scaleups outperforming their peers in 2019 – raising £10.1.bn, more than France (£3.8bn) and Germany (£5.4bn) combined. Our latest report with Dealroom highlighted that UK Series A and B round investments increased by 28% between 2018 and 2019.
The 30 companies joining Upscale further prove that maturing tech ecosystem in the UK. The Upscale 5.0 (2020) cohort companies raised on average 71% more than the Upscale 2.0 cohort – with the average Series A round increasing from £4.2m in 2017, to £7.2m in 2020.
“The Upscale programme selects the very best of UK tech for a chance to participate in a unique series of learning and development modules on all aspects of scaling a company, alongside a peer group of other outstanding founders. The judging process was energising and I look forward to seeing how the chosen companies make the most of this opportunity.” Check Warner, Diversity VC and Ada Ventures
And it’s not just investment that’s increasing. Average revenues of the Upscale cohort have grown by 64% over 3 years, while the average number of employees has risen by 48% compared to previous cohorts.
Upscale 5.0 represents a variety of emerging and high-growth tech sub-sectors, pointing to the most exciting and fastest-growing trends in tech. Healthtech is a prominent sub-sector, reflecting the increase in the number of scaling healthtech companies of over 473% over the last decade in the UK.
Aron Gelbard, CEO, Bloom & Wild commented: “I was thrilled to be part of the judging process for the 2020 Upscale cohort. Bloom & Wild was in the very first Upscale cohort back in 2016 and our team learned a huge amount and many of us are still in touch with our Upscale peers 4 years later. It’s a joy to be able to support the programme as a judge. The calibre of companies was outstanding, with a large number of very promising companies from outside London in particular, and we had some very difficult decisions to make as a group of judges.”
Legaltech and Tech for Good are also prominent trends, highlighting the increased public interest and awareness in climate change and sustainability, and the legal sector being one that is ready for disruption. Other sub-sectors that are represented include SaaS, E-commerce, cloud computing, fintech, AI, edtech, proptech and adtech.
“The Upscale programme represents some of the most exciting scaleups across the UK who are changing the face of UK technology. In this year’s cohort 30% of the companies are based outside of the capital – representing the increasing diversity of hubs of technology excellence. I look forward to keeping track of these companies as they scale nationally and internationally.” David Richards, Founder & CEO at WANdisco
Upscale is based around honest conversations, meetups and workshops delivered by scale coaches and seasoned entrepreneurs who have been through it all. It helps fast-growth tech companies tackle fundamental growth challenges, from hiring and international expansion to maintaining company culture.
Safe Hammad, Co-founder & CTO of Manchester-based Arctic Shores said: “We’re proud of what we’ve achieved so far, but we don’t have all the answers! As we enter a period where we rapidly scale our business, we face challenges on several levels, such as increasing headcount and market share whilst trying to retain the values, diversity and passion that got us here. We’re excited to be part of the Upscale 5.0 programme which will support us in addressing these challenges in a holistic way, and not simply focus on a single aspect such as international growth or sales. We also look forward to sharing stories with others on the programme who are at a similar stage to us now!”
Tim Pullan, Founder & CEO of the Cambridge-based, Legaltech ThoughtRiver told us: “The whole ThoughtRiver team and I are hugely excited at the networking, exposure and learning opportunities on offer via the programme. Upscale was one of the only programmes which we felt could deliver true value in terms of rapid scaling, and improving our awareness of projects, initiatives and opportunities not currently on our radar. We are at the forefront of a huge wave of Legaltech innovation in the UK and globally, so Upscale gives us the chance to unlock further opportunities in a dynamic market.”
Jason McKeown, Co-founder & CEO, Neurovalens commented: “I am delighted that Neurovalens has been selected for the Tech Nation Upscale programme, especially as we are the only Northern Irish company to have been invited to take part. Neurovalens has grown rapidly so this programme comes at an extremely important time for us as we expand into key global markets while also developing our medical R&D pathways. We applied to take part in the Upscale programme to help us navigate the exciting next phase of our journey and we are really looking forward to sharing knowledge and learning from the other incredible leading UK scaleups.”
allplants – London – @allplants
allplants deliver delicious meals straight to your door, making plant-based living easy, convenient, delicious, and on people’s schedules. Created so both people and the planet can thrive, allplants meals are chef-prepared, flash frozen and totally plant-based.
AMPLYFI – Cardiff – @amplyfitech
AMPLYFI is using AI and machine learning to revolutionise global business intelligence and market research. Their learning platforms unlock the entire internet to generate unprecedented business insights through groundbreaking products. AMPLYFI analyse both the surface and deep web to help businesses proactively plan for future disruptions.
Arctic Shores – Manchester – @arctic_shores
Flying the flag for diversity, inclusion and equality, Arctic Shores makes the recruitment process more engaging, objective and fair. Using data-driven psychometric tests that combine neuroscience, AI and game technology, they try to eliminate bias when it comes to hiring and promoting people and look past the CV, focusing on potential rather than just experience, background or seniority.
Chattermill – London – @chattermillAI
Revolutionising the customer experience, Chattermill uses AI to help large organisations understand and improve how they interact with their consumers. Chattermill analyses customer feedback at scale and automatically identifies specific recommendations for how their clients can continuously deliver better services and products to their customers.
Eagle Genomics – Cambridge – @eaglegen
Helping companies make more accurate and credible scientific claims, Eagle Genomics’ uses machine learning to transform raw data into actionable insights that drive scientific decision making. Improving brand perception and research and development processes, Eagle Genomics’ unique expertise gives insights that enable quick assessment of product potential, mitigate risks and reduces time to market.
The leading B2B platform for interior design professionals worldwide, eporta has transformed the $700bn per year interior design industry. eporta’s platform helps interior designers, property developers, architects, hospitality owners and more, to power their projects and design seamlessly.
Everledger – London – @everledgerio
Tackling issues of verification and piracy, Everledger’s technology creates a secure and permanent digital record of an asset’s origin, characteristics and ownership on their private blockchain. This transparency helps industries respond to growing expectations for sustainable, verifiable sourcing.
Changing the way the world deals with death, Farewill helps the UK sort out legally binding wills and probate from the comfort of their own home, quickly, easily and sensitively, while removing the expense and hassle of seeing a solicitor in person.
Florence – London – @WeAreFlorence
Connecting the care industry, Florence is the marketplace for flexible staffing in the care sector. With Florence, care homes can fill their vacancies with the perfect workers, whilst nurses and carers are empowered to take control of their working lives.
Kheiron Medical – London – @kheironmedical
Helping doctors find breast cancer earlier and more accurately, Kheiron Medical works with radiologists, and uses data and machine learning to build products that help breast radiologists in their daily practice. Improving accuracy in the field, it also addresses a growing global workforce shortage.
LandTech – London – @LandTechUK
Revamping the world of property development, LandTech helps you find land, get through planning and raise funding in a more streamlined, convenient way. With over 1,500 clients, of which 80% are SME property developers, to date they have added an additional 10,000 homes to the UK housing market.
Providing corporations with a true alternative to traditional global law firms, Lexoo delivers next generation legal services by combining tech, process and a network of over 1000 former BigLaw lawyers in 70 countries. Work is delivered to a higher standard, more quickly and at roughly 50% of the cost.
Neurovalens – Belfast – @neurovalens
Aiming to transform the world of neurology, Neurovalens wants to treat global neurological health issues by influencing the brain and nervous system using safe and non-invasive technology. This technology aims to replace drugs as the first-line treatments for obesity, diabetes, insomnia and anxiety.
Oddbox – London – @OddboxLDN
Over ⅓ of farmed fruit and veg goes to waste either because they’re surplus to requirements or don’t make strict supermarket requirements on shape, size, or colour. Oddbox helps reduce this structural problem in the industry. With every medium Oddbox, an average of 7 kgs of veg is saved from going to waste, as well as 14 kg of CO2 emissions (the equivalent of 35 miles in a car) and 1,722 litres of water (the equivalent of 12 showers).
Panintelligence – Leeds – @panintelligence
Delivering data solutions that enhance ways of working, Panintelligence’s predictive analytics and data visualisation software is designed to be white-labelled by software vendors, who use it to accelerate their roadmap. Based in Leeds, they have over 100 partners across all verticals and 200,000 users globally.
Peanut – London – @peanut_app
Empowering women all over the world to unite, Peanut is a social network for women, connecting them through their experiences with fertility and motherhood. It enables women at similar life stages to meet, connect and form meaningful communities.
Pimberly – Manchester – @pimberlypim
Changing the game in SaaS, Pimberly delivers an immersive, hyper personalised, omni-channel product experience for millions of products. Made for Product Information Management and Digital Asset Management, it’s used by manufacturers, distributors and retailers to market and sell products across multiple sales channels.
Helping over 500,000 people in the UK grow their money, Plum is an AI assistant that boosts your bank balance. It works by using automation to save, switch bills and invest in a personalised way. With the help of Plum, savers can be £186k better off over their lifetime.
Fancy an upgrade? Seatfrog is the travel app that is here to make upgrading your seat amazing. Seatfrog’s mission is to take every journey beyond the ordinary, and it’s starting by helping passengers live a little more, with a simple, honest and stress-free way to upgrade their seat.
SeedLegals – London – @seedlegals
The world’s first and only automated legal service for funding rounds, SeedLegals make it super easy for startups to raise investment and manage company equity at a fraction of the cost of traditional service providers. No paper. No law firms. No accountants. Everything’s done digitally on their platform. Launching back in 2016, today they are the largest closer of funding rounds in the UK.
SoPost helps brands run the most powerful product sampling campaigns in the world, with a focus on relevance, data and analytics. SoPost gets physical trial products into consumers’ hands through media campaigns, influencer partnerships, and content. It works with hundreds of brands including L’Oreal and Estee Lauder, and sends one sample every couple of seconds.
Spirable – London – @spirable_hq
Generating personalised, data-driven brand videos at scale, Spirable works with world-leading brands to increase engagement and conversion. Videos are personalised to an individual level, enriched with data from live data-feeds, and delivered through social channels and CRM platforms.
ThoughtRiver – Cambridge – @ThoughtRiverCI
ThoughtRiver solves a fundamental problem for lawyers: you simply don’t know which part of a contract to focus on without reading it all. Pre-screening technology automates the review process by reading the contract, answering key legal questions and then serving up detailed advice and guided remediation within Microsoft Word.
Thriva – London – @thrivahealth
Health tracking made simple, Thriva helps you find out what’s happening inside your body with a simple finger-prick blood test. Samples are reviewed by an NHS approved lab, and a doctor walks you through your results, giving personalised advice on your health. Regular testing enables customers to keep track of how their lifestyle decisions actually affect them internally over time.
TrustedHousesitters – Brighton & Hove – @Housesitting
Empowering thousands of people to travel while pets stay happy at home, TrustedHousesitters enables the mutual exchange of house and pet sitting. In return, trustworthy house and pet sitters can often find luxurious homes to ‘sit’ for free. From villas in Tuscany, apartments in NYC, to beach houses in Caribbean, with members in over 100 countries, this is the largest house and pet sitting platform globally.
Tyk is an open-source API Gateway that is fast, scalable and modern. Powering microservice platform enterprises across the globe, with offices in London, Singapore and Atlanta, and team members in 20+ countries. Out of the box, Tyk offers an API Management Platform with an API Gateway, API Analytics, Developer Portal and API Management Dashboard.
Powering mobile video ad creation for the world’s leading brands, Vidsy’s technology and global community of 6,000+ vetted creators and fully managed services, empowers brands to intelligently transform their digital advertising for an ever-evolving world of mobile video.
WhiteHat – London – @WhiteHatGB
Diversifying the world’s future leaders, WhiteHat is building an outstanding alternative to university. It works with some of the world’s best employers to identify, hire, and develop diverse talent through apprenticeships. Every apprentice gets access to a thriving on and offline community and an individual coach to help ensure they’re successful in their chosen career.
Zen Educate – London – @ZenEducate
Moving away from inefficient recruitment agencies, Zen Educate is an online platform that matches teachers with available supply teaching roles in schools. An accredited social enterprise, Zen Educate aim to save the education system £100s of millions a year.
Zencargo – London – @zencargoltd
Helping the world’s fastest-growing businesses turn their supply chains into a competitive advantage, Zencargo collects real-time data on the progress of each product and acts as a single version of truth for teams to uncover insights and opportunities. Expert consultants use these learnings to create, implement and iterate bespoke solutions that increase revenue, optimise working capital, control costs and reduce environmental impact.
Upscale is a free, curated programme of workshops, mentoring sessions and peer-to-peer learning opportunities that unlock the key to scaling successfully, connecting founders and leadership teams from across the UK’s most promising tech companies.
We would like to thank our valued programme partners, CBRE, Cooley, RSM, Silicon Valley Bank and Talent Works International, who give us continued help and support, as well as sharing their expertise and experience, and helping to advise companies on a range of issues.
