Hurun UK Under35s Entrepreneurs to Watch 2024

Leading research institution announces the Under35s British entrepreneurs driving UK growth

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Hurun UK Under35s list reveals 62 of Britain’s leading young business leaders

· 62 young British entrepreneurs under 35 announced pushing UK economy to new heights

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· Entries have a combined value of more than £3.6 billion and between them created almost 2,500 jobs

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· Well known names including Ella Mills, the foodie pioneer behind the Deliciously Ella brand, and former Manchester City footballer Reece Wabara named among Britain’s best young entrepreneurs

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· Synthesia, the generative AI unicorn is the most valuable new company to appear in this year’s research

· Apparels & Accessories is  the best-represented sector with 12 representatives

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· A crop of eco-conscious entrepreneurs helping lead the transition to a low-carbon economy have built successful ventures from making satellites, electric vehicle batteries, cosmetics and the freight of frozen foods more environmentally sustainable

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· London home to highest proportion of entrepreneurs featured at nearly 50% - a lower percentage than the 65% of last year

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· Nearly 15% of entrepreneurs did not attend university

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· Youngest entrepreneur included is  27 years old, Simmy Dhillon – who founded his food delivery service Simmer with his brother Jhai

[London: 27 November 2024]: Global research group, The Hurun Research Institute today releases the prestigious Hurun UK Under35s 2024, recognising outstanding young entrepreneurs in the UK who are creating thousands of jobs and driving economic growth. Hurun Institue recognises 62 founders who have built companies over $50 million.

This year’s UK list features high profile entrepreneurs including Ella Mills, who began her Deliciously Ella food brand by selling snacks she devised to restore her own health after falling seriously ill in her early 20s. Mills earlier this year sold her plant-based food and wellness brand to the Swiss-based Hero Group. After sales of nearly £25m in the year leading up to the sale, Deliciously Ella should have fetched at least £50m.

Danish-born Victor Riparbelli and Steffen Tjerrild set up Synthesia, the generative AI platform famous for creating a video of David Beckham delivering an anti-malaria message in nine different languages. Synthesia was valued at more than $1bn by a fundraising last year.

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Former professional footballer Reece Wabara began his fashion label Manière De Voir as a side hustle while still playing for Manchester City. Wabara, who also represented England at U20 level, now has his flagship store on London’s Oxford Street and a recent stake sale valued his business at £56m.

The 62 entries have together set up businesses with a combined value of more than £3.6 billion and between them created almost 2,500 jobs. The average value of the companies created is £69 million.  

The Apparels & Accessories sector is the best-represented part of the economy, accounting for 12 (20%) of this year’s Hurun Under35s. The successful founders from this sector include Charlotte Tiplady and Elliot Barton, who have grown profits to nearly £6m at their false eye lashes outfit Tatti Lashes over the past year. Tiplady and Barton have said they have just four GCSEs between them.

Former model Jess Hunt and Jenna Meek founded Refy in 2020. Profits at their Manchester-based cosmetics brand climbed to nearly £9m last year.

Seven (11.3%) of this year’s 62 entries operate in the food and beverages world. Jack Scott and Alex Wright are expected to generate sales of around £35m this year at Dash Water, their supplier of flavoured drinks made using “wonky” fruit and vegetables considered unsuitable for restaurants and grocers because of their shape. 

The composition of this year’s UK Under 35s list contrasts strongly with the Hurun UK Under 30 list, which was dominated by the biotech sector. Only two entries in the UK’s Under 35 list come from the biotech world. There were 14 in the UK’s Under 30 list.

Hurun’s UK U35 research is also less London-centric than the Hurun UK 30 list. Two thirds of the younger list involved businesses based in the UK’s capital - compared to less than half in the Under 35s list. 

The transition to a low-carbon economy is providing business opportunities for eco-conscious entrepreneurs. Aleix Megias Homar is one of the founders of Open Cosmos, a developer of environmentally-sustainable satellites that last year raised $50m of investment.

Charles Bowes-Lyon and Freddy Ward hope refillable bottles sold by their cosmetics brand Wild will help banish single-use plastic containers from bathrooms. The pair’s turnover last year reached nearly £50m.

Echion Technologies, a Cambridge University spinout, has developed more sustainable batteries for electric vehicles. Founders Alex Groombridge and Jean de La Verpilliere last year raised investment valuing the business at £133m. Michael Lowe, meanwhile, co-founded Sunswap, a venture working to decarbonise the delivery of chilled and frozen food. The Surrey-based venture last year raised £17m of funding.

Rupert Hoogewerf, Hurun Report Chairman and Chief Researcher, said:

“Building a business large enough to appear in our Under35s list takes enormous skill, creativity and determination. It’s very important we recognise the achievements of these entrepreneurs. Britain’s economy urgently needs more of these ambitious people who want to grow truly big businesses, employing people not by the dozen but by the hundreds or even thousands.

“The strong number of entrepreneurs building successful ventures by helping the shift towards a low-carbon economy speaks volumes about the profound and positive impact good businesses can have on all our lives.

“There are those who protest about climate change by throwing paint, disrupting the lives of others or committing acts of vandalism. But our research showcases the scientists,  entrepreneurs and other talented people who have some of the real solutions to climate change - and are simultaneously creating jobs and contributing to the public finances.”

For the first time, Hurun’s UK Under35s list features founders as well as “next generation” business leaders delivering strong growth in their family’s businesses. The nine entries in this category include the Duke of Westminster, Hugh Grosvenor, who inherited stewardship of his family’s global property empire at the age of 25 after the premature death of his father.

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Michael Murray, the chief executive of Frasers Group, also makes the cut. Murray is the son-in-law of billionaire Mike Ashley and now oversees a group encompassing Sports Direct, Jack Wills, Evans Cycles and an array of other retailers and sportswear brands.

Other “next generation” entries include Timothy Goodwin, the chairman of the industrial group Goodwin PLC, and India Rose James, the property heiress and granddaughter of Soho legend Paul Raymond.

London is home to the highest number of entrepreneurs with 30 of the business leader’s ventures in the capital, amounting to nearly 50%. 10 entrepreneurs are based in the South East of England.

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Hoogewerf added: “London and the South East are clearly hothouses for young entrepreneurs. World-leading universities, a strong investment community and a cosmopolitan culture have no doubt helped attract and energise founders. We know around a quarter of those on our UK lists have chosen to come here to start our businesses - the UK really is a magnet for founders.”

“It is disappointing we have no entries from the North East or Wales this year. The new Labour government has vowed to ‘kick-start’ economic growth and encouraging young entrepreneurs out in the UK’s regions would seem a priority.”

Six of the 62 business leaders featured attended Cambridge University for either undergraduate or post-graduate study, more than any other university. Oxford was the second best-represented higher education institution with four alumni in this year’s Hurun Under35s list. There were also three each from Edinburgh and University College London.

Eight - or 13% - of those who appeared did not attend university. This was exactly the same percentage as in the 2023 research.

The average age of the Hurun Under35s entrepreneurs featured is 32 years and two months. The youngest at 27 years old is Simmy Dhillon. He founded the food delivery service Simmer with his brother Jhai while at university. They're expected to have another big year of growth this year.

Often these young business leaders came from humble backgrounds. Paige Williams was working as a make-up assistant in Selfridge’s when she launched P. Louise. Her grandmother, who worked as a cleaner, had lent her £20,000 to get her cosmetics brand up and running. P. Louise’s revenues are expected to exceed £65m this year.

Some of the UK founders by Hurun have already sold their companies for large sums. Sami Bouremoum was one of the entrepreneurs who set up Hofy. The home-office assembly service was launched when the pandemic began and has now been sold for around £100m.

For a founder to appear in one of Hurun’s Under35s lists a person would usually need to have either founded or co-founded a company considered to be worth at least US$50 million - a standard benchmark across the world. “Next generation” entries are usually required to manage investments or revenues of US$100 million to qualify.

The 2024 Hurun UK Under35s are part of a family of more than 3,000 young entrepreneurs from five countries, including China, India, US and Canada. The Hurun Uth series starts with the Under30s, and moves through to the Under35s and Under40s.

Only 18 of this year’s Hurun UK Under 35s appeared in the previous two editions of the Hurun UK U30s research. These alumni included: Jess Hunt of Refy, Victoria Prew of the online fashion rental service HURR and George Melhuish, the founder of HERMEQ - the building supplies firm previously known as Safe Fence.

Hoogewerf said: “It’s fascinating to see which of the Hurun Under 30s graduate to the U35s list. It’s clearly a lot more challenging to build a business worth $50m than one worth $10m. I am always impressed to see those who start in our Under 30s before ultimately earning a place on our Under 40s list, having grown their company to be worth more than $100m.”

Last year’s Hurun UK Under35s list was the inaugural edition and featured many well known entrepreneurs and founders of unicorns, including Ben Francis and Lewis Morgan of Gymshark as well as Dan and Melanie Marsden, the husband and wife team behind the online retailer Lounge Underwear.

There were more than 20 founders of $1 billion companies in last year’s Hurun UK research, many who can expect to feature in the first edition of the Hurun UK Under 40s list in due course.

For further information, please contact:

Harriet Shearer / Harry Anderson / Will Heron 

hurun@thecommunicationgroup.co.uk

The Communication Group plc

020 7630 1411

For business cooperation, please contact:

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Ada Shan, Hurun chief representative in the UK & Europe

ada.shan@hurun.net

07539018042

Dominic Alting von Geusau, Hurun Uth Series Manager - UK & Europe

dominic.alting@hurun.co.uk

07770 485 993

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Notes to Editors:

About Hurun Inc.  

Established in the UK in 1999, Hurun is a research, media and investments group, promoting entrepreneurship through its lists and research.

Best-known today for the Hurun Rich List, telling the stories of the world’s successful entrepreneurs in China, India and the world, Hurun’s other main series are the Hurun Unicorn and Uth series. Hurun generated 8 billion views on the Hurun brand last year, mainly in China and India.

Hurun is the world’s largest classifier of unicorns and future unicorns. The Hurun Unicorns series includes 3000 unicorns and Future Unicorns in 2024. Of the 1453 unicorns from around the world, the UK has 53, and of 1500 future unicorns in the world, classified as Gazelles (most likely to ‘go unicorn’ within three years) and Cheetahs (to ‘go unicorn’ within five years), the UK has 84, ranking fourth in the world after the US, China and India.

The Hurun Uth series is about promoting young entrepreneurs to investors, local government and strategic partners, who can help them think big, grow faster and bigger. The Uth series starts with the Under25s (to qualify, you have to be a founder of a business worth over US$1mn), Under30s (over US$10mn) Under35s (over US$50mn) and Under40s (over US$100mn). 2024 is the third year of the Hurun UK Under30s, second year of the UK Under35s and first year of the UK Under40s.

Hurun hosted high-profile events in the last few years across China and India, as well as London, Paris, New York, LA, Toronto, Vancouver, Sydney, Luxembourg, Istanbul, Dubai and Singapore.

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Biographies of Hurun UK Under35s 2024

Ben Adams

Recruitment consultancy Trinnovo has worked with EDF, Virgin Money, Trivago and other larger employers. Adams co-founded the group in 2018. Annual sales now exceed £50m.

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Elliot Barton

A-listers includes Ariana Grande, Paris Hilton and Nicki Minaj have all worn Tatti Lashes’ false eyelashes. Barton founded the Bootle-based brand with his school friend Charlotte Tiplady. Their products are now available in 750 Superdrug stores across the UK and Ireland as well as 200 Marionnaud shops across Europe. Annual profits have climbed by 20% to £4m.

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Sami Bouremoum

Bouremoum cofounded Hofy, helping employers provide home working set-ups for their staff. Within three weeks of launch the business landed a £100,000 contract with a large government regulator. Hofy was sold earlier this year for around £100m.

Matthew Bowes

Devon-based Advanced Pallet Systems makes pallets, crates and bespoke packaging products. Bowes serves as managing director and has put together profits of more than £5m over the past year.

Charles Bowes-Lyon

Wild Cosmetics is trying to banish single-use plastic from the nation’s bathrooms. Bowes-Lyon co-founded the eco-friendly brand. Turnover grew to £45.8m last year.

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Ryan Broadhurst

Football stars including Raheem Sterling, Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney have worn clothes made by Arne. Broadhurst set up the label with his brother Reece and the pair have grown annual sales to nearly £68m.

Connor Campbell

Osler Diagnostics, an Oxford University spinout, has developed lab-standard diagnostic kits that can be used anywhere. Campbell set up and runs the operation, raising $85m of series C funding in late 2022.

Hugo Campbell

Campbell co-founded Togather after working at the Independent newspaper. The online platform has helped corporates including Adidas, Amazon and the BBC find caterers when hosting events. Turnover is expected to hit £30m this year and the online platform has raised more than $8m of funding.

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Matt Davis

Perlego is billed as the Netflix for textbooks. The ebooks platform specialises in academic and non-fiction titles. Davis co-founded the business with Gauthier Van Malderen. A 2022 fundraising valued the operation at $276.6m.

Jhai Dhillon

A former professional footballer, Dhillon set up meal delivery service Simmer with his brother Simmy. They're expected to have another big year of growth.

Simmy Dhillon

Dhillon didn't quit his job at Google until his food delivery service Simmer was turning over almost £1m. He started the business with his brother Jhai while at university, initially selling up to 50 meals a week from his student digs.

Will Donnelly

The stress of finding the right accommodation for their grandmother inspired Donnelly and his brother Chris to set up Lottie. Their online service allows users to assess different care homes and has so far raises £25m of investment.

Ben Dolman

Dolman is chief executive of Holiferm, a developer of environmentally-friendly surfactants used in agricultural and cosmetics products. He co-founded the Birkenhead chemicals manufacturer, valued at nearly £79m by a fundraising.

Anna Veronika Dorogush

Recraft is a generative AI tool allowing graphic designers to create and edit icons, 3D images and illustrations. Russian-born Dorogush founded the London-based tech firm and has attracted around $12m of investment.

Marcus Fountaine

Fountaine set up the upmarket fashion retailer Fairfax & Favor with his friend Felix Parker, each adopting one of their middle names to concoct the brand’s name. The group now has six stores and made profits of more than £4m last year.

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Jeremy Godden

Godden has been managing director of his family’s leisure business for more than 10 years. The Godden Gaming Organisation runs bingo halls, amusement arcades and other family entertainment sites. Annual profits exceed £7m.

Jordan Godden

Godden works with his brother Jeremy as operations director of his family’s leisure business. The Godden Gaming Organisation runs bingo halls, amusement arcades and other family entertainment sites. Annual profits exceed £7m.

Timothy Goodwin

Goodwin has been chairman of his family’s engineering group for more than five years. The 140 year-old firm makes equipment for a range of sectors, including mining and defence companies.

Will Goodwin

Software developer Tumelo creates platforms allowing investors to vote on companies' policies and performance. So far the company has raised more than £15m of funding and signed up Fidelity and Legal & General as clients. Goodwin serves as head of product.

Alex Groombridge

Echion Technologies has developed safe, fast-charging and long-life batteries for use in electric vehicles. Groombridge is chief technology officer at the Cambridge University spinout. A fundraising has valued the business at £133m.

Hugh Grosvenor

Grosvenor is better known as the 7th Duke of Westminster. He inherited his title and control of his family 340-year-old property group at the age of 25 following the premature death of his father.

Joshua Guy

Guy co-founded Yorkshire-based Pennine Energy. The Northallerton-based trading operation has generated annual profits of nearly £22m. Guy heads up the renewable energy trading arm.

Joel Holmes-Darby

Holmes-Darby and his brother Kieran founded Excel Esports in 2014. The franchise’s players competed at Fortnite, Fifa and other hit games. In late 2021 the business raised £17m from City investors, valuing Excel at £100. Excel has now been merged with another gaming franchise and the combined group is known as GIANTX.

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Kieran Holmes-Darby

Kieran Holmes-Darby founded their esports franchise Excel with his brother Joel. The brand's players competed at Fortnite and League of Legends. A fundraising in late 2021 valued the operation at £100m. Excel has now been merged with another gaming franchise and the combined group is called GIANTX.

Aleix Megias Homar

Open Cosmos last year raised $50m of investment to fund its development of environmentally-sustainable satellites. Homar is one of the founders.

George Hughes-Davies

Daily Dose’s juices are sold in Waitrose and Benugo cafes. Hughes-Davies founded the brand from his parents’ kitchen after leaving university and has raised £8m from investors.

Jess Hunt

Hunt and her business partner Jenna Meek are expected to generate sales of £45m at their make-up brand this year. The former model says Refy achieves a profit margin of around 37%.

India Rose James

A grand daughter of the Soho legend Paul Raymond, Rose James and her half sister Fawn James inherited a vast West End property empire when he died in 2008. Rose James concentrates on Soho Revue, an art gallery that is part of the wider Soho Estates group.

Ben Jeffries

Jeffries and Caspar Lee launched Influencer, which helps Pepsi, Apple, McDonald’s and other brands form partnerships with stars from Instagram and other social media platforms. Annual profits have climbed to £4.4m.

Abbas Kazmi

Kazmi started his VC fund Collegiate Capital in his mid 20s, raising $100m within its first year. He gas recently co-founded Sabah.fund, a new operation backing ventures in central Asia, the Middle East, North Africa and the South Caucasus.

Ed Leon Klinger

Commercial vehicle insurer Flock has raised $55m of funding. Klinger set up the operation after working at Meta and Tech Nation.

Amy Knight

Online retailer Must Have Ideas sells a wide range of affordable products for the home and garden. Knight founded the business in 2018 and has grown profits to more than £5m on annual sales of £40m.

Jean de La Verpilliere

de La Verpilliere co-founded and serves as chief executive of Echion Technologies, a developer of safe, fast-charging and long-life batteries for electric vehicles. A fundraising has valued the business at £133m.

John Lambert

An Irish-born supercar dealer, Lambert founded European Prestige from his homeland 15 years ago. Now based in south London, he has grown turnover to almost £40m.

Caspar Lee

Lee began his career as an actor and YouTuber. In 2017 he teamed up with Ben Jeffries to launch Influencer, helping Pepsi, Apple, McDonald’s and other major brands forge partnerships with stars from Instagram and social media platforms. Annual profits have grown to £4.4m.

Michael Lowe

Sunswap is looking to decarbonise the “cold chain” haulage services that transport chilled and frozen food. Lowe co-founded the Surrey-based clean tech firm and earlier this year raised nearly £17m of funding.

James McIlroy

McIlroy co-founded EnteroBiotix, a biotech firm running clinical trials on treatments for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), blood cancer and liver cirrhosis. The Scottish firm raised £27m of new funding earlier this year.

Will McMahon

McMahon works as commercial director of Kendal Nutrition. He co-founded the fast-growing baby milk arm, Kendamil.

Jenna Meek

Sales reached £25m last year at Refy, the make-up label Meek set up in 2020 with Jess Hunt. Meek previously set up a successful haircare products business called Shine.

George Melhuish

Hermeq - previously known as Safe Fence - supplies temporary fencing, barriers and scaffolding. Melhuish, a former HSBC banker, founded the business, which grew profits to £3.4 million on £33.1 million sales in 2023.

Ella Mills

The daughter of former Labour Party cabinet minister Shaun Woodward became a household name through her vegan food brand, Deliciously Ella. Turnover climbed to £24m in the year leading up to the recent sale to Swiss-based Hero Group.

Michael Murray

The son-in-law of billionaire retailer Mike Ashley, Murray has taken over as chief executive of Frasers Group. Derbyshire-based Frasers wraps in Sports Direct, Evans Cycles and Ashley’s other high street chains.

Jaime van Oers

Lawhive uses AI to connect solicitors with potential clients. Van Oers is one of three co-founders of the platform, helping to secure an additional £9.5m of funding earlier this year.

Felix Parker

Princess Anne’s daughter Zara Tindall is among the notable wearers of footwear and clothes sold by Fairfax and Favor. Parker co-founded the “rural vogue” fashion retailer, employing more than 100 people and generating annual sales of £35.3m.

Dhaval Patel

Patel set up Universal Partners with Oliver Carson. The London-based firm provides foreign exchange and hedging services to businesses. Revenues reached nearly £1.5bn in 2022-23.

Antton Peña

Commercial vehicle insurer Flock has raised $55m of funding. Pena co-founded the operation, uses real-time data to offer lower premiums to safe drivers.

Victoria Prew

Former chartered surveyor Prew is capitalising on the shift to a more sustainable fashion industry by allowing customers to rent party dresses and other clothes. She co-founded "Airbnb of fashion” Hurr and has so far raised £7.9m of funding.

Victor Riparbelli

Riparbelli is chief executive and a co-founder of Synthesia. The London firm’s AI-powered platform allows users to transform text documents into training, marketing or sales videos.

Sam Ryan

Zeelo arranges ride-sharing services helping around 40,000 people get to school or work each day. Ryan co-founded the platform with his school friend Barney Williams. The pair have grown annual sales to nearly £34m and were at one point close to selling the venture for $100m.

Charlotte Tiplady

Khloe Kardashian has a range with Tatti Lashes, a retailer of false eyelashes based in the Lancashire town of Bootle. Tiplady and her co-founder, Elliot Barton, have grown annual profits to almost £6m.

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Steffen Tjerrild

Synthesia created an AI-powered video of David Beckham delivering an anti-malaria message in nine different language. Tjerrild, a Danish-born technologist, co-founded the £800m tech firm.

Jack Scott

Dash Water used “wonky” fruit rejected by shops and restaurants to make flavoured water. Scott co-founded the drinks brands and expects sales to reach nearly £35m this year.

Charles Shortt

Shortt has been a director of DCS Group for 10 years, leading the design and marketing functions. Turnover hit a record £350m this year.

Jaz Singh

Innovation Agritech Group is pioneering “vertical farming” technology that aims to use less water and boost agricultural production. Singh co-founded the company and has raised funding valuing the business at £50m.

Georgia Stewart

Software developer Tumelo creates platforms allowing investors to vote on companies' policies and performance. So far the company has raised more than £15m of funding and signed up Fidelity and Legal & General as clients. Stewart serves as chief executive.

Gauthier Van Malderen

Van Malderen set up Perlego with his school friend Matthew Davis. The ebooks platform allows users to buy or rent textbooks from more than 1,000 different publishers. A 2022 fundraising valued the operation at $276.6m.

Digby Vollrath

Togather helps organisers of corporate events, parties and wedding find reliable caterers, bars and photographers. Vollrath co-founded the online platform and has attracted more than $8.3m of investment. Turnover may hit £40m this year.

Reece Wabara

A footballer for Man City in his youth, Wabara started his fashion label as a side hustle during his playing days. He later quit the game to concentrate on Maniere De Voir, recently buying out his friend in a deal that valued the business at £56m.

Freddy Ward

Ward co-founded the eco-friendly cosmetics brand Wild. The London-based brand sells deodorants, body washes and lip balms in refillable cases. So far the group has raised more than £10m.

Paige Williams

A former Selfridge’s make-up assistant, Williams started her own cosmetics brand with a £20,000 loan from her grandmother. P Louise’s sales have been driven by savvy use of Tiktok and are expected to hit £65m this year.

Matthew Wilson

Omnipresent helps business quickly and efficiently hire remote workers in a legally compliant way. Wilson co-founded the operation and a fundraising in early 2022 secured $120m of investment.

Alex Wright

Dash Water makes and sells flavoured water free from sweeteners and artificial ingredients. Wright co-founded the drinks label in 2017, attracting £21m of investment from former Manchester United star Patrice Evra and other investors.

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