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 London based CEO’ operating in the Commercial 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.
Matt Robinson
CEO of Nested
Matt Robinson is the CEO and a co-founder at Nested, a property technology company. Prior to this, he founded GoCardless in 2010 and remains on the board of the recurring payment company.
Follow Matt Robinson:
About GoCardless, Nested: Nested operates as a data-driven estate agency enabling customers to be chain-free buyers.
_______
Daniel Attia
Founder & CEO of YOPA
Follow Daniel Attia:
About YOPA, YOPA: YOPA provides real estate agency services that assist clients in selling their properties.
Sanjay Choudhary
Founder & CEO of Incuspaze
Sanjay Choudhary founded Incuspaze; he is UK based entrepreneur, startup enthusiast, and a startup growth consultant. He has vast experience across Enterprises, SMEs, and Startups in UK and India.
Follow Sanjay Choudhary:
About CrowdInvest, Incuspaze: Incuspaze is on a mission to bridge the gap that exists within Indian startup ecosystem.
Tushar Agarwal
Co-Founder & CEO of Hubble
Tushar is the Co-Founder of Spacious.
Follow Tushar Agarwal:
About Hubble: A platform to search, set up, and manage your hybrid workplace
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.
Follow CARMEN HIJOSA:
About Ananas Anam: Piñatex is a strong, versatile, breathable, soft, light, flexible textile that can be easily printed on, stitched and cut.
Paul Tselentis
Chief Executive Officer of 24 Haymarket
Paul is the CEO of 24Haymarket. He previously worked in private equity at The Carlyle Group and CCMP Capital.
Follow Paul Tselentis:
About 24 Haymarket: 24 Haymarket is an investment network of highly experienced investors and senior operators.
Cameron Shearer
Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Superscript
Cameron Shearer is the CEO and Co-Founder at Superscript.
Follow Cameron Shearer:
About Superscript: Superscript provides business insurance designed specifically to meet the fast-changing needs of small businesses.
Mark Musson
Founder & CEO of Humn.ai
Mark Musson is the Co-Founder and CEO at HUMN.ai.
Follow Mark Musson:
About Humn.ai: Humn.ai develops an insurance platform that delivers risk-adjusted insurance pricing in real time for commercial vehicle fleets.
Richard Hartley
Co-founder & CEO of Cytora
Follow Richard Hartley:
About Cytora: Cytora is a configurable platform that enables commercial insurers to create digital workflows by digitising, evaluating and routing risks.
Richard Moffitt
Chief Executive Officer of Urban Logistics REIT
Previously an Executive Director at CBRE, where he was Head of the UK Industrial team, Richard has over 25 years’ experience of the UK Industrial and Logistics markets. He has an in-depth understanding of the market’s dynamics, credibility with owners and operators of real estate assets, a thorough understanding of owner and tenant requirements and an extensive network, which includes institutional funds. He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport.
Follow Richard Moffitt:
About Urban Logistics REIT: Urban Logistics REIT is a property investment company.
Ross Bailey
CEO of Appear Here
Ross Bailey is the Founder and CEO of Appear Here. Appear Here is a short-term retail space marketplace used by thousands of brands and landlords every month. Based on the concept that renting commercial property should be as easy as booking a hotel room, Appear Here’s mission is to make retail space accessible to everyone. Hailed a “Digital game changer for the high street” by The Guardian, Appear Here, has received investment from the previous backers of Hailo, Pinterest, Spotify and Trivago.
Follow Ross Bailey:
About Appear Here: Appear Here is an online marketplace for retail space.
Gabriela Hersham
Founder & CEO of Huckletree
Follow Gabriela Hersham:
About Huckletree: The brave home of innovation.
Flemming Bengtsen
CEO of Nimbla
Follow Flemming Bengtsen:
About Nimbla: Nimbla is dedicated to providing small and medium-sized UK businesses with dynamic invoice insurance.
Rosie Reardon
CEO of Burgopak
Rosie Reardon is the Chief Executive Officer at Burgopak & Duallok.
Follow Rosie Reardon:
About Burgopak: Burgopak is a packaging design company that offers innovative packaging solutions that not only engage brand & consumer for production.
Ozgur Tuncer
CEO & Executive Director of Stablepharma Ltd
Ozgur Tuncer CEO & Executive Director – two decades of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry including working for blue chip companies such as Pfizer, IQVIA and Pharmacia. Most recently, he was Global Vice President in IQVIA, and strategic adviser to life sciences investors. In addition to his role in Stablepharma, Özgür is an Investment Partner with Ascension Ventures.
Follow Ozgur Tuncer:
About Stablepharma Ltd: An innovative Biotech, developing a wide range of reformulated thermostable and fridge free StablevaX vaccines
Torsten Hartmann
CEO of Credit Peers
Follow Torsten Hartmann:
About Credit Peers: Credit Peers is a privately held company that makes commercial property lending accessible to everyone.
Matthew Beatty
Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Spacehop
Founder of Spacehop
Follow Matthew Beatty:
About Spacehop: An online platform for people to list and book cheap, flexible office space at the days and hours of their choosing in London and the UK.
John Warburton
Co-Founder & CEO of Konsileo
Founder at Konsileo, a tech startup in insurance broking.
Follow John Warburton:
About Insurtech UK, Konsileo: Konsileo is a commercial insurance broker using technology to empower individuals and replace hierarchical management.
Dominic Quennell
Founder, Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director of Enertechnos
Enertechnos is the Founder, Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director of Enertechnos.
Follow Dominic Quennell:
About Enertechnos: Enertechnos develop, patent, and commercialize CTS as a new concept in ultra-low loss cable based on capacitance technology.
Tom Wallace
Founder & CEO of Re-Leased Property Software
Tom Wallace is the Founder and CEO at Re-Leased Property Software.
Follow Tom Wallace:
About Re-Leased Property Software: Re-Leased is a centralised cloud-based property management software designed for landlords and property managers.
Ryan Jones
CEO of ThreatInformer
Follow Ryan Jones:
About ThreatInformer: ThreatInformer provide advanced security metrics tailored for cyber insurance underwriters.
Jamie Holmes
CEO of VU.CITY
Follow Jamie Holmes:
About VU.CITY: SaaS scale-up helping real estate professionals make better design and planning decisions, faster
Michele Grassi
CEO & CTO of 40South Energy
Michele Grassi (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter), born in 1970, has a degree in Mathematics from Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa and a PhD in Mathematics from the University of California Los Angeles. He also studied for some time in Oxford, UK. In 2005 he had an idea for an innovative method for extracting energy from waves. After the initial preliminary studies, in 2008 he created 40South Energy Ltd in London to complete development of the Intellectual Property, to fabricate and to commercialise the machines globally. The Italian subsidiary 40South Energy Srl carries out some development and construction, mainly related to the mechanical components. The UK company has recently expanded its presence, opening an office in Plymouth. 40South Energy has a special relationship with Plymouth University and collaborators from Exeter University. From the Plymouth office it will be easier to coordinate the various projects planned for the South West of the UK, among which the Scilly Airport WEP. The machines that we build constitute a generation jump with respect to the previous ones, in terms of survivability, reliability, load factor and cost. In 2010 the Italian bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena provided a loan to finance the construction of the first full scale pre-commercial prototype of a 150kW machine. In the summer of 2010 Zurich agreed to insure our machines (for damages against third parties), due to the intrinsic multi-layered security measures (both active and passive) incorporated already in the D100t prototype deployed and tested offshore during that summer. During 2011 we tested offshore the second generation of full scale machine, the 150kW unit called Y25t. Its operation allowed us to validate completely the computerised “wave to wire” model that we use to forecast the behaviour of machines at sea. During 2012 we sold the first R115/150kW machine to Enel Green Power, one of the major renewables players in the world. During 2013 we completed construction and had first electricity production offshore from the first R115 machine and we also received orders for R115 machines from other clients. We started expanding the projects from the current ones in the UK and in Italy to several other locations around the world, where we have customers interested in developing Wave Energy Parks based on our R115 machines. From a technological point of view we started development of an intermediate prototype, called R380/500kW, useful towards the design of the next generation machine, also using to finance part of this project a grant to 40South Energy Srl from Regione Toscana. The R380/500kW will serve as the basis platform for the R1300/2MW machine, our second commercial offering which we expect to launch commercially during 2015. During the first quarter of 2014 we completed the test campaign on the first R115 machine. In the second quarter of 2014 we started development of our WT25 powertrain, which is used in the R115/200kW, in the R380/500kW and in the first machine in the new line of H-machines, the H24. The H design is as groundbreaking as the R one, and allows us to expand in a new market segment (shallow water wave and tidal conversion) completely separate from that of the offshore wave machines of type R. The fact that these machines share the powertrain is an added bonus which improves dramatically out production process. Together with our partners of Elements Works SRL we completed the consenting process for a first H-WEP (H-machine water energy park), where we installed one H24-50 machines. The machine was installed at the Marina di Pisa wave energy park in November 2016, and after a month of commissioning was put into operation. Electricity from wave energy was produced but was NOT put into the Italian grid (it was dissipated as heat locally). In November 2016 we sold the first H24-50 to Enel Green Power, and later in December 2016 Enel Green Power invested in 40South Energy Italia, alongside Invitalia Ventures. During 2017 40South Energy Italia worked at the update of the design of the H24-50, to bring it from TRL 7 to TRL8. In the meantime another investment was done, by Genia Srl and Invitalia Ventures. In the summer of 2018 a first update of the H24-50 installed off Marina di Pisa was completed, from version 1.0 to 1.1, to start testing the “version 2” transmission which will be used in the TRL8 H24-50 v2. This time the electricity produced was injected in the Italian Grid, starting from the first production event on Thursday September 13th, 2018. This date is a fundamental milestone, as it was the first grid production of wave energy in the Italian grid (and most likely the first or one of the very few in the whole continental Europe).
Follow Michele Grassi:
About 40South Energy, Element Works: 40South Energy we have the expertise to turn ocean wave energy into useful work.
Tobi Crosbie
CEO and Founder of Making Moves London
Follow Tobi Crosbie:
About Making Moves London: Making Moves London offers a modern, refreshing approach to finding new office premises on behalf of clients.
Marcus Ralphs
CEO of ByzGen
Before founding ByzGen Marcus served in the British Army. In addition to taking part in several high-tempo combat commands, Marcus held posts in Financial and Military Capability and Defence Policy, working at the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and British Army headquarters. Marcus’ fascination with technology was first sparked by the challenges facing the defence and security sectors when it comes to managing and assuring sensitive data to inform complex and time-sensitive decisions. In addition to running the business, Marcus heads up the development of ByzGen’s academic and commercial partnerships
Follow Marcus Ralphs:
About ByzGen: ByzGen is the first blockchain company.
Andrew Kron
CEO of Unet
I have an ability to create complex IT projects, that’s what i do.
Follow Andrew Kron:
About Unet: Unet helps businesses stay in touch with customers.
Andrew Vertes
CEO of Virtual Commercial
Follow Andrew Vertes:
About Virtual Commercial: Virtual Commercial is the UK’s Online Commercial Estate Agent.
Tim Rodber
CEO of The Instant Group
Tim joined The Instant Group in 2013 to spearhead our growth as a dynamic and innovative property solutions provider. Previously he spent 10 years at global outsourcing firm Williams Lea, most recently as CEO of the Americas business; he was also personally responsible for relationships with several key FTSE 100 and S&P 500 clients. Prior to Williams Lea, Tim held the role of Managing Director at London-based marketing and communications company, Rodber Thorneycroft Ltd, which Williams Lea acquired in 2003. Tim launched his career as an Army officer, and then as a successful international rugby player. Playing for Northampton Saints, he appeared 44 times for England, twice for the British and Irish Lions, and was a Rugby World Sevens Cup Winner. He is a graduate of Oxford Brookes University.
Follow Tim Rodber:
About Instant Offices, The Instant Group: The Instant Group is a specialist in independent flexible workspace solutions.
Muhammad A. Bhatti
CEO of Apex Housing Group
The founder of Apex Airspace and Apex Housing Group, Arshad is responsible for developing the business strategy and delivering consistent growth. He is a pioneer in airspace development and highly passionate about how innovative development methods can produce new housing supply. He utilises a hands-on and personable approach to provide day-to-day operational and personnel direction, ensuring functional efficiency and sustainability across the company.
Follow Muhammad A. Bhatti:
About Apex Airspace Housing, Apex Housing Group: Apex Housing Group specialises in property management and social housing solutions plus property
Joseph Kelly
CEO of DealX
Follow Joseph Kelly:
About DealX: DealX is a big data cloud computing platform for commercial real estate.
Russell C. Platt
Founder & CEO of Forum Partners
Russell Platt is the Founder and CEO of Forum Partners.
Follow Russell C. Platt:
About Forum Partners: Forum Partners is a real estate investment and asset management firm.