The Hustle Awards 2024: raising the bar for startups

The event brought the entire tech startup community under one roof to celebrate the very best of the industry. Guests networked with some of the incredible people who were behind the technology products and solutions shortlisted for the awards.

Entries were judged by professionals who are at the very top of the industry and who understand why innovation in technology, standards and best practice is so important.

The awards were hosted by the hilarious Doc Brown, and the evening entertainment was brought by MT Collective.

Anna Wood, Editor, Startups Magazine, said: “The Hustle Awards were once again a fantastic celebration of startups. It was a pleasure to be able to gather so many innovative minds together to celebrate the entrepreneurial journey. Many congratulations to all of those shortlisted and to all of our final winners!"

Here are the winners:

Most Innovative Tech: FlowSense

FlowSense unveils the world’s first patented device for visually impaired women, merging non-invasive period detection, cycle tracking, and health education into a groundbreaking inclusive innovation. Addressing the overlooked challenges in menstrual health for visual impairment, it’s a companion for empowerment, offering confidence, dignity, and autonomy. FlowSense is not only set to revolutionise menstrual care, one period at a time, but also to shine a spotlight on the urgent need for inclusivity in women’s health, advocating for greater awareness and action.

Early-Stage Innovation: StackOne

With a single unified API, StackOne enables enterprise-grade B2B integrations, providing SaaS companies with a simple way to connect with established HRIS, ATS, CRM, and marketing tools, powering seamless workflows. The StackOne pre-mapped, unified API provides a real-time interface for interacting with multiple platforms while protecting sensitive data. StackOne includes all that is needed to build, test, ship, and monitor integrations, with best-in-class security and privacy.

Founder of the Year: Lena Hackelöer

In 2019, Lena Hackelöer founded Brite Payments in Stockholm, seizing an opportunity within the rapidly evolving payments sector by launching a fintech platform that revolutionises instant payments in Europe. Under Lena’s astute leadership, Brite doubled its transactions and revenue in 2022, reaching profitability, and secured $60 million in funding in 2023. Operating in 26 countries, Brite connects nearly 4,000 banks, serving over 350 million users. With Brite quickly ascending as one of Sweden’s fastest-growing fintechs, Lena’s vision and innovation have set a new standard in open banking.

Sustainability: UNCAGED

UNCAGED Innovations is the world’s first leather alternative company to create sustainable leather from grains at scale. Combining its proprietary software platform, BioFuze, with biomaterial manufacturing, UNCAGED skips the cow to create an animal-free leather product that mimics the texture and performance of traditional leather.

UNCAGED’s process creates cell networks that replace the animal collagen required for traditional leather. The end product uses 95% less greenhouse gases, 93% less water, and 72% less energy than traditional animal leather, and unlike other leather alternatives, UNCAGED produces almost zero waste and is toxin-free, as no tanning is required.

Inspirational Womxn of the Industry: Melissa Gauge

Melissa Gauge is the Founder of SpareMyTime, a UK-based virtual business support firm dedicated to supporting individuals in the workplace by providing comprehensive assistance with admin tasks, marketing, bookkeeping, and more.

Melissa left her corporate role at an investment bank in 2016 after struggling to balance demanding work commitments with family responsibilities. Motivated to create a solution for individuals facing similar challenges, Melissa sought to harmonise work with the demands of family life and assist parents and neurodiverse individuals back into work – thus SpareMyTime was born.

Rising Startup: FlowSense

FlowSense unveils the world’s first patented device for visually impaired women, merging non-invasive period detection, cycle tracking, and health education into a groundbreaking inclusive innovation. Addressing the overlooked challenges in menstrual health for visual impairment, it’s a companion for empowerment, offering confidence, dignity, and autonomy. FlowSense is not only set to revolutionise menstrual care, one period at a time, but also to shine a spotlight on the urgent need for inclusivity in women’s health, advocating for greater awareness and action.

Most Successful Scaleup: Brite Payments

Since its 2019 launch, Brite Payments has become a leading European fintech, offering secure, convenient, and fast account-to-account (A2A) payments through open banking. Its no-account, no-app Instant Payments and Instant Payouts offering simplifies transactions using just banking information.

Serving 26 markets across sectors like e-commerce, auction marketplaces, and EV charging, Brite’s network spans nearly 4,000 banks, reaching 95% of the EEA. With more than 100 employees across Stockholm, Málaga, and a growing number of key European markets, Brite is expanding even further after a $60 million funding round in 2023, aiming for more market acceleration and geographical growth in 2024.

Outstanding Startups Support: ANNA

ANNA is an AI-powered business account & tax app making financial admin easier and more affordable for startups. 25% of ANNA’s customers are new businesses, and more than 6,000 customers have registered with Companies House to begin their business journeys through ANNA. ANNA’s chat interface offers advice and functions (eg. invoice chasing and tax planning) to help founders navigate their financial admin with ease. The human customer service team is on hand 24/7. ANNA estimates that its services save entrepreneurs £2,500/year on accountancy fees and 10-15 hours/week of time. It’s like having an accountant in your pocket.

Social Impact Hero(es): RefuAid

RefuAid provides people who have fled their homes with tailored support to build independent and dignified lives in the UK. It’s programmes focus on addressing the key barriers that refugees in the UK face when returning to work, providing practical solutions to issues surrounding language, recognition of qualifications, financial inclusion, and access to employment opportunities which commensurate with each individuals’ skills and experiences. It is demonstrating the impact of facilitating a fairer, more compassionate, and more inclusive society – one where everyone, regardless of their background, has the opportunity to thrive.

Top Performing Team: Go Live Data

Go Live Data is a dynamic data company that has captivated the market, by working with some of the biggest names in the corporate world such as AxA Health, Amazon Business, Talk Talk, Citation, Premier Line, and many SMEs. Since it launched in 2020, the Manchester-based company has achieved £1.5 million in revenue, with 150% growth year on year. Go Live Data aims to reach its growth target to become a £100 million EV (£20 million revenue) business within the next five years.

Workspace of the Year: MyWorkspot

MyWorkspot highlights its exceptional impact on startups and growing businesses in Maidenhead, offering flexible workspaces strategically located across its sites. MyWorkspot is committed to a flexible approach through scalable solutions, a vibrant community (at its core a family business run by family members), and a comprehensive suite of support services, including events, hands on customer services and cutting-edge technology. MyWorkspot goes beyond conventional office spaces, creating an environment that accelerates the success of startups.

Reader’s Choice: HumanOS

HumanOS represents a pioneering leap in corporate wellness technology, blending AI with expert human coaching to address workplace stress and health challenges. This approach has attracted significant investments during a notably tough economic climate, showcasing strong belief in its potential. Its diverse team has swiftly propelled the platform to onboard over 1,500 clients along with global expansion. This innovative model has already begun to show financial promise, generating £16,000 from pilot accounts. HumanOS’s unique AI-enhanced coaching methodology, which significantly boosts user engagement and outcomes, sets a new benchmark for wellness platforms, embodying the essence of innovation in technology.

Many congratulations to all the winners! Read more about them, as well as the judging process and what makes for a good entry, in the 2024 Winner’s Guide.