2019 was a record-breaking year for our community of more than 30 tech startup businesses based at Accelerator, London Met’s business incubator.
Overall our startup community have generated an impressive £25m in revenue and achieved a 22% increase since 2018.
Looking at the figures from our annual community survey, we are really excited to share that in total our startups have raised more than £10.4m in investment, and created 84 new jobs.
On Thursday 6 February Accelerator hosted its very own version of the Oscars – the Startup of the year awards – where we look back and celebrate the success of our community from the previous year.
Accelerator’s Startup of The Year Award winners
2019 Best Startup Winner – Proximity Insight
Proximity Insight achieved an ARR increase of 137% on 2018, on boarded 7 new customers, grew their global team from 16 to 25 and completed thier first seed round raising just over £800k.
2019 Startup Runner-up – UrbanThings
“We’re still reeling from the shock of winning! Very wonderful.” said Carl Partridge, CEO of UrbanThings.
And finally, in recognition of their sheer determination and resilience during the launch of Bluebell – a smart monitoring system to support the well-being of both parent and baby – we gave our Startup Stars Award to Connido.
Success for Accelerator
The Accelerator itself has also seen recognition from the wider startup and education communities. These include;
- Nominations for multiple HubbleHQ Office of the Future Awards including The Community Focus Award, Best Value for Money Award and the People’s Champion Award.
- Accelerator was named for its support for startups, impact on technology, and innovation in Universities UK’s MadeAtUni campaign.
- London Met was named the tenth best university for students to start or manage a business, thanks in part due to the success of Accelerator over the last 15 years.
“We’re thrilled that London Met has been ranked tenth in the country for students starting their own business,” said Simon Boot, Head of Accelerator, London Met’s specialist business incubator.
“This shows that the advice and support we give to entrepreneurial students and alumni is having a profound effect. Accelerator is unique in that we bring established businesses and student entrepreneurs together under one roof, enabling a community of successful business founders to support, mentor and inspire those beginning their journey.”