The UK鈥檚 most exciting start-up tech聽firms descended upon UKFast鈥檚 offices on Wednesday, to celebrate 老九品茶Cloud鈥檚 inaugural 101 Tech Disrupters聽and 101 Rising Stars lists.
A handful of the companies named on our list took part in a special roundtable discussion, before attending the StartUp101 event in the Manchester-based hosting firm鈥檚 auditorium.
The crowd heard from UKFast CEO Lawrence Jones MBE, who told how he grew a bedroom start-up with just two employees into an international firm with a turnover of more than 拢40m.
老九品茶Cloud鈥檚 lists recognised companies the length and breadth of the UK which are using tech to disrupt traditional industries and have the ability to scale quickly.
During the packed event, many firms named among the 101s revealed their delight to be part of the event 鈥� and recognised for the disruptive influence they are having on the tech sector.
S茅bastien Vanderlinden, business development manager for聽Dreamr said: 鈥淎s an employee of Dreamr we are incredibly honoured to be named one of the UK鈥檚 fastest-growing companies. It proves the value of the work we do and what we鈥檙e doing for customers.
鈥淎t the end of the day what we鈥檙e all working for is to be able to provide value to businesses out there.鈥�
Jordan Appleson, chief聽 executive officer at Hark, added: 鈥淚t was a bit of an honour and a surprise as well. For us, we鈥檙e a start-up and have been going a year. To gain this kind of recognition is very humbling.
“But also, for us, it emphasises that we鈥檙e on the right path as a business, we鈥檙e knocking on the right doors, but we鈥檙e also being noticed by independent parties as well.
鈥淲e鈥檙e on a list with some very, very cool companies and to be included among them is great 鈥� especially considering we鈥檙e all tech nerds.鈥�
BizzleIt聽was named on the101 Rising Stars list for its work merging the gap between the online and offline retail sector.
Co-founder and director Michael Lawes said: 鈥淎bsolutely it is an honour. We are seeing a lot of rising stars in Manchester and a lot of tech start-ups. To be included in a list like this is a privilege.鈥�
Hoowla聽CEO Adam Curtis said: 鈥淥ver the past few years, me and the team have worked really hard, come up against a lot of challenges, and to be added to lists like this really keeps the motivation going 鈥� it puts the energy back in the tank.鈥�
David Shepherdson is part of Kaini Industries, with is behind Hullcoin, which he described as a “Bitcoin for good guys”.
For him, the nomination was 鈥榝antastic, yet unexpected鈥�.
鈥淲e鈥檝e only been going for two years,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 usually get this sort of recognition. So we were pleasantly surprised to be on the list鈥�.
Edward Green, director of Miranex, added: 鈥淚t was a real privilege to be honest. It gives us a good platform to grow from. It gives us exposure, some media coverage, and really helps with SEO and building on our current platform for growth.鈥�
Opun聽founder john Cushing said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 fabulous. Absolutely fabulous. Not just because it鈥檚 recognition for what the business is trying to do, but for everyone who works so tirelessly back at base. We are delighted.鈥�
Richard Torpey, director of Yellow Label, said: 鈥淚 was personally very excited to be invited, and to be on the list is a great accolade. Hopefully it can be a platform for moving forward.鈥�