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 Market Research 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.
Alex Vratskides
Co-Founder & CEO of Persado
Alex Vratskides is the CEO of Persado, which he co-founded in 2012. Previously, Alex co-founded Upstream in 2001 and served as the company’s CEO between 2004 and 2012. During his tenure, the company grew to become a global leader in mobile marketing, with mobile operator clients in more than 40 countries. Alex was responsible for setting Upstream’s strategic direction and spearheading its international sales expansion and product innovation. Prior to founding Upstream, Alex worked as a management consultant at OC&C/McKenna Group, based out of Boston. He is the first angel investor for Luluvise, where he is also a board member, and serves on the board of advisors of Seyyer. Alex holds a BS in Applied Mathematics from Columbia University and a Masters of Engineering in Operations Research from Cornell University.
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About Persado: Persado Marketing Language Cloud delivers AI-generated language that resonates the most with any audience, segment or individual.
Tugce Bulut
Founder and CEO of Streetbees
Tugce is passionate about the power of data and the positive change it can bring to the world. She is a published author and Master’s graduate from Cambridge, specialising in poverty alleviation and global living standards. Before founding Streetbees, she spent 6 years as a strategy consultant advising technology and consumer companies to accelerate growth in international markets.
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About Streetbees: Streetbees is a human intelligence platform that collects and analyzes offline consumer behavior.
Jon Moore
Head of BNEF / CEO of BloombergNEF
Jon has over 20 years’ experience of building professional service firms in the financial services industry, serving clients across the US, Europe and Asia. Prior to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, Jon’s career started with a decade at J P Morgan, supporting their Commodities business and Accenture within their Financial Services practice, including two years helping build the Asian Financial Services practice. This was followed by a decade where Jon was co-founder then CEO of a business consulting firm, m.a.partners, which provided services to the global capital markets community. Jon has a B Eng (Hons) in Electronic Engineering from Nottingham University and has attended professional development classes at Harvard and NYU.
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About BloombergNEF: BloombergNEF provides industry information, analytics, and research services for the clean energy and carbon markets.
Michael Liebreich
Chairman & CEO of BloombergNEF
Michael Liebreich is Founder and Chair of the Advisory Board of Bloomberg New Energy Finance, the world’s leading provider of research on clean energy, energy technology and advanced transportation. Michael founded New Energy Finance in 2004 and acted as Chair and Chief Executive before selling it to Bloomberg LP in 2009. Bloomberg New Energy Finance is headquartered in London and now has over 200 staff in 13 offices around the world.
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About BloombergNEF, Imperial College London: BloombergNEF provides industry information, analytics, and research services for the clean energy and carbon markets.
Dominic Wheatley
CEO of Catalis
Co-Founder & CEO at Bright Things .
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About Bright Things, Catalis: Catalis provides high-end technical services relating to the creation of digital content for the digital media & entertainment industries.
Joyeeta Das
CEO and Co-founder of GYANA
Joyeeta Das is a techie and serial entrepreneur with a background in engineering who has dabbled in both for-profit and non-profit technology companies from a young age. She has traveled and lived across the world and is driven by her passion for using technology to advance human consciousness. She is currently CEO and Founder of UK-based AI startup GYANA.
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About GYANA: No-code Data Analytics
Jeremy King
CEO & Co-Founder of Attest
Jeremy King is the CEO & Founder at Attest
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About Attest: Attest is a consumer research platform that delivers consumer data that drive predictable and repeatable growth to businesses.
Allister Furey
Co-Founder & CEO of Sylvera
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About Sylvera: Sylvera develops machine learning-based tools to track the performance of carbon offsets.
AF_initDataCallback({key: \’ds:1\'” alt=”” class=”wp-image-14850″ width=”154″ height=”152″/>Chris Ganje
CEO & Co-Founder of AMPLYFI
Chris Ganje is co-founder and CEO of AMPLYFI, a company that has developed the world’s first business intelligence platform to combine leading artificial intelligence, surface and deep web harvesting and decision support visualisations within a single integrated, user-friendly platform.
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About AMPLYFI, Innovate UK: AMPLYFI is a privately held company that provides software platform capable of intelligently harvesting open source data from the internet.
Luca Pagano
CEO of BeMyEye
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About BeMyEye: BeMyEye is a European crowdsourced in-store data as a service (DAAS) provider.
Tim Cobbold
CEO & Executive Director of UBM Plc
Tim is the CEO & Executive Director of UBM, an event services platform.
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About UBM Plc: UBM is a global events-led marketing and communications services business.
Steve King
CEO of Black Swan Data
Steve is co-founder and CEO of Black Swan, the fastest growing start up in the UK which uses Artificial Intelligence to predict human behaviour. Since reading Cognitive Science the 90’s, Steve’s applied his tech, coding and visualisation skills to solving his clients’ challenges.Black Swan works with brands such as Disney, PepsiCo and GSK and through connected aircraft across most of the major airlines.
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About Black Swan Data: Black Swan’s SaaS solution uses data analytics to allow brands to more accurately predict future consumer trends
David Kershaw
Co-Founder ,CEO & Exec Director of M&C Saatchi
David Kershaw is a founding director of M&C Saatchi. He joined Saatchi & Saatchi in 1982 after obtaining an MBA at London Business School. He became managing director in 1990 and was made chairman and chief executive of the UK agency in 1994.
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About M&C Saatchi: M&C Saatchi Group is a creative company that connects specialist expertise, fuelled by data and technology.
Carl Wong
Co-founder & CEO of LivingLens
Carl Wong With 17 years in marketing and customer insight roles, both client and agency side, Carl has a passion and enthusiasm for LivingLens that you’ll find infectious.Carl’s drives the vision for LivingLens and engages customers in the big idea. He likes the sound of his own voice, which is good, because he talks….A LOT! An avid Liverpool FC fan, full member of the Market Research Society, and holding the Chartered Institute of Marketing’s Postgraduate Diploma, Carl lives a little while from the beach not far from Liverpool with his patient wife Cath, Daisy (4), Thomas (1), and crazy dog Stan (42 dog years).
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About LivingLens: LivingLens offers video-based insight tools that enable companies to turn consumer insight films into market research.
Gary Thompson
Co-founder and CEO of GoRaise
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About Blu Sky Chartered Accountants, Fit Gurus, GoRaise, Startup Coach, Virgin StartUp: You can fundraise for a local club, your child’s playgroup or a national charity and many other causes – you choose
Erwin Werring
Co-Founder & CEO of Attrace
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About Attrace: A Decentralised Affiliate Marketing Platform.
Robert King
Chief Executive Officer and Member of the Board of Acuity Knowledge Partners
Robert King is the executive director of Moody’s Analytics Knowledge Services.
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About Acuity Knowledge Partners: Acuity Knowledge Partners is a provider of research, analytics and business intelligence to the financial services sector.
Douglas McCabe
CEO of Enders Analysis
Douglas is an opinion leader on print and online media, reports on media substitution, and consults on commercial strategies for the internet age. He is a former director of Fish4, the online advertising portal, and was responsible for market research and sales development at the HMV Group.Douglas holds a degree from Stirling University.
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About Enders Analysis: Enders Analysis is a TMT analysis firm providing senior corporate managers with an alternative perspective on 3G and the internet.
Singe (StJohn) Deakins
Founder and CEO of Citizenme
StJohn Deakins As Founder and CEO, StJohn oversees the commercial and technical direction for citizenme. His vision was to create a service for everyone that lets us take back control of our digital identities and asset our right to self. He works with our team, partners, suppliers, advocates, the media and the general public to ensure that the citizenme vision realises its potential to positively impact the lives of every single digital citizen. . StJohn is a successful serial Internet entrepreneur, digital visionary, mobile evangelist, and documentary producer. In late 2010 he sold his mobile multimedia platform company, 3ple-media, to a US private equity firm. StJohn subsequently advised on the acquisition of the NSN Wimax business unit by SkyView. In 1995 he was instrumental in helping to put Lloyd’s List, the world’s oldest daily newspaper, online. Later, his team at Agency.com developed the first British Airways booking system and global Internet presence. . StJohn produced the acclaimed crowd sourced documentary Twittamentary. He provides formal and informal advisory to a number of start-ups including Distrify, the innovative Internet movie distribution platform. StJohn returned to London to found citizenme after spending 12 years living in Singapore where he worked to advance mobile data services in the emerging markets of Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe and South America.
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About Citizenme: CitizenMe empowers us people and organisations with the true value of personal data.
Joel Silverman
CEO / Co-Founder of KidsKnowBest
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About KidsKnowBest: A full-service creative agency; driven by insights; powered by youth. Delivering effective and results-led solutions.
Chris Havemann
Chief Executive Officer of RealityMine
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About RealityMine: RealityMine is a tech leader in high quality passive research, enabling clients to reveal unique insights from real life consumer behaviour.
William Rowe
Founder & CEO of Protein
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About Protein: Protein is a global marketing company with a focus on long term strategies.
Dave Carruthers
CEO & Founder of Voxpopme
Dave has been involved in technology businesses for the last 10 years and has been behind a number of successful startups. An entrepreneur with a passion for mobile technology he leads the VoxPopMe team.
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About One Result, Voxpopme: Voxpopme is the world’s #1 video insight solution. We build great brands, products, and experiences with agile video feedback.
Lee Evans
Chief Executive Officer & Founder of Afin Technologies
Lee Evans is the Chief Executive Officer & Founder at Afin Technologies
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About Afin Technologies: Afin Technologies allows users to see businesses willing to reward customers for taking a brief questionnaire.
Crispin Beale
Chief Executive Officer of Insight250
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About ESOMAR, Insight250: Insight250 provides insights into data-driven leaders in academics, business, government, technology, consultancy, media, and associations.
David Day
President & Global Chief Executive Officer of Lightspeed Research
Based in London, David is Lightspeed’s President and Global CEO. He joined the company in 2006 as CEO, Europe, and oversaw the expansion of the European business. He became Global CEO in 2009. David has extensive experience in market research and official statistics, and has worked in both the private and public sectors. His past employers include the UK Ministry of Defense, ACNielsen, and NetRatings. A seasoned international executive, he has held a range of senior roles in operations, sales and marketing, consulting, and general management. An expert in the field of Internet and media research, David is a regular conference speaker, and is often quoted in the media. David holds non-executive positions with the UK Department of Work and Pensions and the Open University. Educated at University College London, Imperial College London, and the University of Greenwich, David holds a First Class Bachelor degree, a Ph.D. degree in Physics, a Master of Business Administration degree, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Statistics.
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About Lightspeed Research: Lightspeed Research provides online market research panels for consumer.
Bruce Hellman
CEO and Co-Founder of uMotif
Bruce Hellman is the CEO and Co-Founder of uMotif.
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About uMotif: UMotif is a scalable and engaging patient-centred data capture platform for modern research.
Andy Childerhouse
CEO of ViewPoint
Andy is a programme and project management, business change and transformation specialist with a background in the public, private and charitable sectors. His experience extends from directing major global programmes with multi £M budgets and heading up product development for a major telecoms company, through to working with business start-ups. He has people development, product development, programme and project management expertise – with a track record in delivering great clien- focused benefits. He puts the customer first. Andy leads their operations and product development here at CRT and has brought an innovative and dynamic approach to cementing CRT’s position as the UK’s No.1 provider of Customer Experience feedback solutions. He lives in South Leicestershire with his family.
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About ViewPoint: Drive profits and performance with real-time feedback. Feedback solutions that are simple to use, proven & immediate.
Ryszard Bublik
CEO and Co-Founder of Social360 Ltd
Ryszard has more than twenty years communications advisory experience. He started his career in investment banking with Nomura before moving to the international PR consultancy Brunswick. Recognising the wealth of critical insight in online conversation, Ryszard was part of a team that founded Social360 in 2008 to provide flexible online monitoring solutions to some of the world’s biggest brands and PR agencies.
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About Social360 Ltd: Social360 Ltd operates a social media monitoring and analysis platform for corporate communications and public affairs.
Louise Ainsworth
CEO – EMEA, Media Division of Kantar
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About Kantar: Kantar is the data investment management division of WPP, is a global insight, information, and consultancy network.
Liz Brandt
Founder and CEO of Ctrl-Shift
Liz has over 20 years experience in consulting and has spent the last 14 building and running innovative businesses that focus primarily on the digital interaction between business and consumers. Throughout here career Liz has worked both in and for large corporates and has developed deep skills and strong networks across private, public and the 3rd sectors. Since the beginning of her career Liz has worked at the disruptive edge, where business and technology meet. She brings deep and strong experience in the impact on business models and operating environments of the shifting landscape of consumers, digital, trust and value. Liz combines vision married with evidence and market knowledge, business strategy and operational implementation and the ability to bring together strong teams to deliver extraordinary results.
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About Ctrl-Shift: Organisations today are facing profound changes in the way they engage consumers who seek more control over and value from their data.
Henry Porter
CEO & Founder of Bluewater Capital
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About Bluewater Capital: Bluewater Capital provides consulting services on using financial assets in developing businesses.
Robin Duke-Woolley
CEO of Beecham Research
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About Beecham Research: Beecham Research, Ltd. Is a leading technology market research, analysis and consulting firm based in Cambridge, UK.
Javier Burón
Co-Founder & CEO of Audiense
Javier Burón is a dedicated internet enthusiast with wide experience in social media and has spoken at many events across Europe. Entrepreneur by nature, he has gained in-depth knowledge in this area over the last five years thanks to numerous successful consulting projects, and designing and developing a wide variety of social apps (e24apps.com). Javier Burón has a Masters in Information Systems, Computing Engineering and is a recent past lecturer at Córdoba University.
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About Audiense: Audiense is a develops delivering unique consumer insight and engagement capabilities to many of the world’s biggest brands and agencies.
Dinis Guarda
CEO and Founder of Ztudium
Dinis Guarda, author, CEO, and founder of the companies ztudium, techabc, and open business council platform. Dinis Guarda is also the founding member of the Ubuntu Tribe utribe.one impact platform that is creating access to basic financial services & wealth creation opportunities to solve global poverty trap. Dinis Guarda has a Master’s degree in new media. Dinis Guarda is an author, writer, artist, academic, B2B2C tech influencer, inventor and serial entrepreneur. Dinis is a world-renowned thought leader, strategist, futurist and speaker, an International Bestselling Author, and a media personality who covers the pressent and future of business, technology and society. Dinis is a World Class Leader in multiple fields and has a passsion to push ideas, action and technology together to create better solutions, narratives and paths. Dinis Guarda specialises in the crossroad between strategy, ideas, business, poetry, technology and how 4IR, AI, Fintech, digital transformation and Blockchain are changing Humanity. Dinis Guarda has decades of experience in international business, C level positions and digital transformation. Dinis has worked with new tech, cryptocurrencies, drive ICOs, regulation, compliance, legal international processes, and has created a bank, and been involved in the inception of some of the top 100 digital currencies. Dinis Guarda has created various companies such as ztudium tech platform a digital and blockchain startup that created the software Blockimpact (sold to Glance Technologies Inc) and founder and publisher of intelligenthq.com, openbusinesscouncil.org, fashionabc.org, hedgethink.com, and tradersdna.com. Dinis has been working with the likes of UN / UNITAR, UNESCO, European Space Agency, Davos WEF, Philips, Saxo Bank, Mastercard, Barclays and governments all over the world. Dinis Guarda has been a guest lecturer at Copenhagen Business School, Group INSEEC/Monaco University, where he has been coordinating executive Masters and MBAs. Dinis Guarda is ranked as one of the most influential people in Blockchain in the world by Right Relevance as well as being listed in Cointelegraph’s Top People In Blockchain in 2019 and Rise Global’s The Artificial Intelligence Power 100. He is also listed on multiple lists on global top leaders on Fintech, digital transformation and Technology at large. Dinis Guarda has been collaborating with multiple governments and global leading companies and organisations. An example is the collaboration with the newly-appointed Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) chairman Datuk Rais Hussin collaborating in the concept of Malaysia 5.0 as a new narrative for the country. “MDEC will no doubt play a leading role in introducing emerging technologies which are essential tools in the new Malaysia 5.0 digital economy. If such a policy is missing from our national strategy, Malaysia will be left behind and excluded from digital ecosystems and workforces,” Rais said in his inaugural statement. Touting his personal passion for digital transformation, he referred to the book 4IR: Reinventing a Nation which was co-authored with blockchain / AI / Fintech expert Dinis Guarda and launched in October last year, is meant to be a blueprint of sorts to assist governments of developing nations in their digital transformation agenda. More here https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2020/06/16/new-mdec-chief-pushes-for-malaysia-5.0-concept/1875908
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About Gozoa, Ztudium: ztudium is maker of the industry 4.0 technologies for the future present: blockchain, AI and digital transformation solutions
Martin Luke
CEO of Vox Markets
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About Vox Markets: Online network connecting traders and investors to a dynamic network of information, people, companies and ideas.
David Jackson
CEO of Clicktools
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About Clicktools: SURVE, the Premium Survey Software for business, helps you collect, centralize and act on customer feedback in CRM.
Brunello Rosa
CEO and Head of Research of Rosa & Roubini Associates
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About Rosa & Roubini Associates: Rosa & Roubini Associates provides high-end, independent, macro-financial research and advisory services for a variety of clients.
Mary O’Donnell
CEO of MarketLine Research
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About MarketLine Research: MarketLine Research publishes company, industry, and country information, covering 200+ countries and every major industry sector.
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.
Hugo Macedo
CEO & Founder of Smart Separations Ltd
Hugo is the founder and CEO of Smart Separations Ltd. He has over 11 years of experience in entrepreneurship which helped him founding this start-up company that has developed a proprietary filter that can be tailored to suit many different applications in the poorly explored but very large microfiltration market, from biotechnology to food & drink processing. Throughout his PhD in Biomedical Engineering, Hugo was constantly challenged with new and diverse tasks, in a multidisciplinary environment, where he breathed skills from chemical engineering to stem cell technology, including membrane technology, hydrodynamics, stem cell culture and bioprocessing, human blood production, amongst many others. This provided him with the right tools to create the first “3D hollow fibre bioreactor for the production of human red blood cells” – a system design that he patented. This work was featured in different magazines, including the cover page of The Chemical Engineer (TCE) in 2011, selected as one of “Ten life-changing ideas under research at UK universities” by the Research Councils UK and shortlisted for the highly prestigious IChemE Awards in 2011. Hugo currently holds 2 patents and is passionate for innovation leading to improve people’s quality of life – a vision that he has shared with Smart Separation
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About Smart Separations Ltd: Smart Separations is a limited company based in London UK that has patented an innovative microfiltration technology.
Alex D. Kostopoulos
President & CEO of reportbrain
Founder of reportbrain
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About reportbrain: reportbrain is a news research engine platform.
Jörgen Sundberg
CEO of Link Humans
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About Link Humans: Employer Branding, Driven by Data
Jörgen Sundberg
CEO of Link Humans
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About Link Humans: Employer Branding, Driven by Data
Selasie Ocloo
Founder and CEO of Seyann Electronics Ltd.
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About Seyann Electronics Ltd.: Seyann Electronics offers mobile payment solutions for emerging markets.
