Best Startup
At Best Startup UK we track over 130,000 UK startups and over 500,000 people who hold key positions in these companies. We use this directory of startups to highlight top employees, founders and board members we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
This list showcases the top United Kingdom based CEO’ operating in the Social Impact space. If you think a CEO’ is missing from this list, feel free to contact our editor on editor@beststartup.co.uk.
The individuals on this list have been included because of exceptional performance in one of the following categories:
- Innovation – Operating as a key part in an extremely innovative business or startup.
- Growth – Operating as a key figure in the growth and upscale of a market leading business or startup.
- Management – Showing exceptional management skills.
- Societal impact – Putting their business on the map for their positive societal or environmental impact.
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Companies House UK, Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.
Kirill Chliaifchtein
Founder & CEO of SwiftGift
Founder & CEO at SwiftGift
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About SwiftGift: SwiftGift is the world’s first Instant Gift Messenger App which allows you to send real gifts to anyone in your phone’s contact book.
Jessi Baker
Founder & CEO of Provenance
Jessi Baker is the founder of Provenance, building the future of supply chain transparency and product trust on the blockchain. She is an Art and Science hybrid, with Master’s degrees in Engineering from the University of Cambridge and Design from the Royal College of Art. She has worked with brands on technology strategy across the US and Europe, including Adidas, The Four Seasons, The Guggenheim Museum, British Airways and Will.I.Am. She is an associate researcher at the Intel Institute for Sustainable Cities and a regular speaker on technology and social business.
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About Intel, Provenance: Provenance is the leading software solution for sustainability communications
May Al-Karooni
Founder & CEO of Globechain
May Al-Karooni is the founder of Globechain – an award winning British reuse marketplace that connects corporates to charities and smes to redistribute free unwanted items, creating social impact data to its members. May previously worked within the investment banking and asset management industry, fundraising monies for venture capital, property and hedge funds for the last 10 years totaling over £120 million in funds raised. In 2013 May set up Globechain after seeing a demand for a new online circular economy within the waste management industry after her own employer expressed a need to reuse items in a more collaborative way. Globechain has gained huge momentum growing to 10,000 members with eBay as its mentors and securing contracts with some of the world’s largest brands as well as growing a large network of charities nationally and internationally. Globechain works within the retail, commercial and construction industry and last year diverted 5,100,000 kilos from landfill with items being re distributed within the UK as well as abroad as far as Sierra Leone, Guinea, Kenya, Libya and the Ukraine providing savings of over £1,500,000 to charitable causes.
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About Globechain: Globechain is a B2B reuse marketplace connecting businesses to charities, creating social impact data.
CARMEN HIJOSA
Founder & CEO of Ananas Anam
Carmen Hijosa Originally from Spain, Dr. Hijosa has a track record in the design and manufacturing of leather goods, selling through her own company and supplying key retail outlets such as Harrods and Liberties in London. While working in the Philippines as a consultant to the Product Development and Design Center of the Philippines in the ‘90s, Dr Hijosa became aware of the qualities of pineapple leaf fibres and began to explore possible ways to develop a new textile material that could be used as an alternative to leather and petroleum based textiles. As written in the Huffington Post, it took around 7 years to develop, what is now Pinatex. A strong and sustainable textile, that can be used in everything from bags to furniture. Even shoe companies like Puma and Camper have made prototypes with the textile. What started as an alternative to leather, have become its own product. Carmen believes that there is a place for Pinatex in the world, right between leather and petroleum based textiles.
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About Ananas Anam: Piñatex is a strong, versatile, breathable, soft, light, flexible textile that can be easily printed on, stitched and cut.
Hristian Nikolaev Nedyalkov
Co-Founder & CEO of Novus World
Hristian Nikolaev is the Co-Founder and CEO at Novus.
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About Novus World: The impact banking app that turns your everyday spending into a force for good
Tim Nicolle
Chief Executive Officer of PrimaDollar
Tim is the founder of PrimaDollar, which provides a low cost, transactional trade finance product on a global basis. Tim has been a senior investment banker (Managing Director at Deutsche Bank and Unicredit Bank) and has also been a partner in a big-four global accounting firm (PwC). He has also founded two business previously: Demica (1998-2002) and Risk Limited (1989-1998). Demica is now a major global force in supply chain finance.
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About PrimaDollar: PrimaDollar is an ESGTech and Fintech for international supply chains.(real-time ESG data and Trade Finance)
marco muccini
Group CEO of Topos Network
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About Papermine, Topos Network: The Borderless Bank of Migrants
Joel Gibbard
CEO of Open Bionics
Joel Gibbard is the founder of Open Bionics and the inventor of the world’s first and most advanced 3D printed robotic hand prosthetic. Joel has won multiple awards for engineering, innovation, and entrepreneurship. Joel was recently named ‘Britain’s Design Engineer of the Year,’ and awarded the Limbless Association’s ‘Prosthetic Innovation of the Year’ award. The roboticist is based inside of the Bristol Robotics Laboratory and is committed to keeping his robotic hands open source.
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About Open Bionics: Open Bionics is a robotics company creating affordable 3D-printed bionic hands for amputees, researchers and makers.
Seth Ward
CEO & Founder of Pynk
Online since the ’80s, I grew up eating my cereals off of arcade game machines which led to my first thriving business aged 8 – running a lunchtime arcade sanctuary for my school buddies in my garage (in true Silicon Valley style). Serial tech entrepreneur and incubator since the ’90s. A hands-on, can-do leader, I’ve: – Raised investment (and delivered ROI) – Coded prototypes, alphas and betas – Set up data-driven analytics that enabled rapid growth – Recruited and led globally disperse tech teams – Built a business from $500 to eight figures in 4 years with zero investment – Pioneered digital download and mobile video streaming platforms for AOL, Vodafone, Orange and Universal Music – Co-founded a business which transformed professional soccer scouting before selling to an industry leader And I… – love to immerse myself in the most positively disruptive technology (from those arcade games and pre-WWW internet in the ’90s, web in the 90s, mobile in the 00s and now blockchain and AI in the 10s – learn to teach, and teach to learn; I feel most alive when I’m learning and applying new thinking – realise that as a society we need to actively shape our use of technology to help us reach our human potential rather than allowing it to rule our lives and diminish our connection to each other I first started mining Bitcoin in 2011. I’m currently focused on the blockchain space, dedicated to helping everyday investors and startups. I love blockchain, and I kinda love capitalism – both are broken right now, but could fix each other. Let’s make things better!
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About Pynk: Pynk is where everyday people invest better together.
Halima Begum
Chief Executive Officer of The Runnymede Trust
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About The Runnymede Trust: The Runnymede Trust is a non-partisan think tank dedicated to racial equality.
Kaan Akın
Founder, CEO of Hackquarters
Tech investor, startup mentor and founder of Hackquarters Startup Accelerator. He is involved with corporate accelerator programs.
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About Hackquarters: Hackquarters accelerated 150+ startups and helped 40+ corporates to innovate with startup collaboration
Marjorie Leonidas
CEO of Taggstar
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About GlobalReach Technology Ltd, Taggstar: Real-time social proof message expert for enterprise eCommerce | Conversion uplift by up to 12% | Shop Direct, N Brown, TUI, Missguided use.
Laura Degiovanni
CEO and Founder of TiiQu
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About TiiQu: TiiQu is a trust mechanism derived by immutable verifiable sources about one’s ID, Work, Knowledge, Performances
Jack Culpan
Founder & CEO of Sponsor My Society
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About Sponsor My Society: We connect university clubs and societies with businesses.
James Brown
Co-founder & CEO of Epic Impact
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About Epic Impact: A mobile app that helps users track their CO2, environmental & social footprint, and rewards them for buying ethical & sustainable products.
Robert Pasco
Co-Founder & CEO of Plend
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About Plend: Building a better way to borrow, where people are no longer held back by their credit history
Ilyanna Kerr
Co-Founder & CEO of See What I Mean
Ilyanna studied Design at Goldsmiths College, University of London and the SWiM app originated from a final year project focused on how linking speech to images can strengthen understanding and aid communication. Ilyanna’s work as a designer focuses on interaction and visual communication. She has worked at leading design agency Pentagram, where her clients included Maggie’s Cancer Care Centres, the Science Museum, Saks Fifth Avenue, and the Royal Academy of Arts.
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About See What I Mean: See What I Mean is a speech to image communication tool that translates words into pictures.
Jim Clifford
CEO & Founder of Sonnet Advisory & Impact
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About Sonnet Advisory & Impact: Sonnet Advisory & Impact provides consultation services and solutions to impact-driven businesses.
Iskren Kulev
CEO, Founder of KindLink
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About KindLink: Online platform for businesses to manage and engage with employees through their social responsibility
Nicholas Guy
CEO and Co-Founder of No LogoSphere
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About No LogoSphere: No LogoSphere is a next-gen market research business.
Chris Skitch
Founder & CEO of Didgeroo
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About Didgeroo: DIDGEROO HELPS CREATIVE AGENCIES BUILD INNOVATIVE WEBSITES.
Craig Bennett
Chief Executive Officer of The Wildlife Trusts
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About The Wildlife Trusts: The Wildlife Trusts is a non-profit organisation that organizes events to spread awareness to save wildlife & bring people closer to nature.
