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 Gamification 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.
Herman Narula
CEO and Co-Founder of Improbable
Herman Narula is the cofounder and CEO of Improbable, a London-based technology startup born out of Cambridge University. Improbable is creating SpatialOS, a distributed, cloud-based platform for game development that integrates with and augments existing workflows, engines, and tools. SpatialOS empowers developers to build, run and operate previously impossible online games, with unprecedented levels of scale, complexity and persistence. Improbable has investment from some of the world’s most admired venture capitalists. Improbable currently has a team of over 200 people in offices in London and San Francisco, including top software engineering talent from world-renowned academic institutions and companies such as Google, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Microsoft. Founded in 2012, Improbable received $20m in Series A funding from Andreessen Horowitz in March 2015, with a $30m follow-on led by Horizons Ventures in July 2015. In May 2017 Improbable announced a $502m Series B funding round, led by SoftBank and including Andreessen Horowitz and Horizons Ventures. Herman holds a computer science degree from Cambridge, and is interested in the potential impact that powerful, virtual worlds will have on how they think, play and make decisions.
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About Improbable: Improbable is a UK-based games technology company that is dedicated to building powerful technology designed to help problems.
Adetunji Adegbesan
Founder/CEO of Gidi Mobile
Dr Adetunji Adegbesan is the Founder & CEO of Gidi Mobile, creators of gidimo, Africa’s leading curriculum mastery & learning-as-a-service platform. Tunji has a First Class Honours degree in Electronic Engineering, and a PhD in Strategic Management from the IESE Business School. He is globally respected as one of Africa’s top scholars of competitive strategy, as well as one of her leading experts on the mobile telecommunications industry. A recipient of multiple awards, he has been invited to speak at knowledge events in more than 20 countries across four continents. Immediately prior to founding Gidi Mobile, he was Director of the Centre for Competitiveness & Strategy at the Lagos Business School (LBS), where he led sessions on Competitive Strategy, as well as on issues arising out of the intersection of Strategy, Technology, and Innovation. During his 14 years at LBS, his consulting experience spanned the software, telecommunications, banking, oil and gas, publishing, logistics, identity management and electronic payments sectors; while prior to LBS, his work experience spanned software development, consulting, information systems management, and electrical engineering, in both manufacturing and service sectors. Tunji is a member of the Editorial Review Board of the Academy of Management Review, the world’s leading conceptual journal in the field of strategic management. He is also a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Businessday Newspapers (West Africa’s premier business periodical), and a peer reviewer for several of the world’s top strategy research journals. He is a past member of the Executive Committee of the Strategy Division of the global Academy of Management, as well as a past Global Representative for Africa of the Division. He has also been a Representative-at-Large for the Competitive Strategy Interest Group of the Strategic Management Society, and a member of the Research and Strategic Planning Committee of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria. He is a past Visiting Scholar & Associate Researcher at the Center for Globalisation and Strategy at the IESE Business School in Barcelona. An amateur historian, philosopher, and student of culture and geo-political affairs, Tunji has native fluency in English and Spanish, and basic literacy in French, Yoruba and Catalan.
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About Gidi Mobile: Gidi Mobile is the creator of gidimo, the developing world’s leading personal mastery & learning-for-opportunity platform
Alex Durrant
Co-Founder and CEO of Jigsaw
Alex Durrant is the Co-Founder and CEO of Jigsaw.
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About Jigsaw: Jigsaw develops a dating app that covers the user’s face in a jigsaw puzzle.
Dan McGuire
Founder & CEO of cube19
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About Broadbean, cube19: cube19 is a cloud-based business intelligence and performance management solution for recruitment and staffing companies.
Diederick van Thiel
Chairman, CEO, FOUNDER of AdviceGames
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About AdviceGames, E-cology innovations, Ikano Group, JADS (Jheronimus Academy of Data Science): AdviceGames provides virtual financial assisting and gamification for consumers and small businesses.
Herbert Siu
CEO & Co-Founder of Quokka
Serial entrepreneur. Sharp insights with proven experience in UK PE/VC. Also a CFA & CPA.
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About Quokka: Quokka is a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) employee engagement platform that develop engaged & high-performing teams
Katz Kiely
CEO & Founder of We are beep
A award-winning expert in open-innovation, participatory systems design and digital engagement. She converts complex challenges into memorable experiences, smart solutions and strong innovative cultures. Over a 17 year career, she has supported a host of global brands through transformation: including BBC, GSK, HP and the UN. Some highlights. She has: * Helped organisations use digital to evolve, drive efficiency and connect to customers/ stakeholders * Influenced at C- level * Build and led large multi-disciplinary teams and managed multiple service provider * Designed winning pitches, multi-channel strategies and services * Built strong partnerships * Worked in global environments * Grown large and loyal networks As a digital pioneer she has delivered a number of breakthrough projects including: * The first open-innovation competition for Hewlett Packard * A massive transformation project for a UN agency. A visible voice in the digital transformation, innovation and behaviour change arena, she is a regular speaker at global conferences including TED, SXSW and IBC and regularly writes for b2b publications on stuff like this: http://www.cmo.com/features/articles/2016/8/18/recruit-change-agents-and-save-11-trillion.html#gs.Cja9aQU She is a proud ambassador for the Burning Man Foundation.
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About We are beep: beep (Business Enterprise Engagement Platform), a world changing enterprise platform, that unlocks the wisdom of employees
Ben Cooper
Co-Founder & CEO of Gallantcloud Games
Ben Cooper is a Co-Founder & CEO at Gallantcloud Games.
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About Gallantcloud Games: Gallantcloud Games are striving to create new and interesting games and bring fun and reward to the masses.
