1. Quantum Dice

Founders: Ramy Shelbaya, Marko von der Leyen, Zhanet Zaharieva, Wenmiao Yu, and George Dunlop

Cybersecurity has become a major concern for many businesses nowadays, particularly as 82% of leaders feel pressure to adopt emerging technologies such as AI. What’s more, current computer structures mean that it’s almost impossible to create codes that are guaranteed to protect your device.

Luckily, Quantum Dice has cracked this code by using quantum randomness to generate unpredictable numbers for encryption, making it near-impossible for hackers to break into client networks.

With this, Quantum Dice is changing the game in cybersecurity, providing a much stronger layer of protection for the fast-developing digital world — an ambition further bolstered by its £2.09 million grant from Innovate UK.

In 2025, the startup will go stratospheric. With Singapore’s SpeQtral, Quantum Dice has developed its first space product for use in an upcoming satellite mission. This is not just world-changing, but universe-altering, tech..

2. Audiomob

Founders: Christian Facey and Wilfrid Obeng

No one likes to be interrupted by annoying ads when gaming. But while in-game advertising won’t be going away anytime soon, Audiomob has come up with a way to allow mobile games to monetise through advertising, without disrupting the player experience.

How? Through audio-based advertisements that blend seamlessly into gameplay – giving developers a new, non-intrusive way to generate revenue while improving user engagement with ads that feel like a natural part of the game.

This fresh alternative saw Audiomob raise $14 million in Series A funding, helping it to bridge the gap between user experience and ad engagement in mobile games.

3. Vikela

Founder: Peter Gilleece

Standard body armour in the UK isn’t entirely up to scratch. It’s heavy (up to 15kg), only comes in three sizes and current designs don’t adequately protect someone from stabbing attacks.

With this in mind, founder Peter Gilleece set out on his mission to produce a more effective, lightweight and versatile body armour, through the use of 3D printing technology. Impressively, Vikela armour is also 100% recyclable and tailored to fit people of all sizes – now being produced at the company’s new headquarters in Bangor.

Vikela’s solutions are a game changer for sectors employing individuals in high-risk professions, such as law enforcement and security. In 2025, it has set a new standard for the personal protective equipment (PPE) sector to follow.

4. ToffeeX

Founders: Marco Pietropaoli, Francesco Montomoli, and Audrey Gaymann

Engineering workflows are often expensive and time-consuming. ToffeeX is a new startup that has developed pioneering computer software to help engineers create better, more efficient designs through 3D printing. 

Businesses can use the Toffee platform to define goals and generate optimised designs quickly and efficiently. The software also supports multiple manufacturing processes, including additive manufacturing, machining, stamping and more.

ToffeeX’s innovative platform has seen the company secure impressive partnerships, such as Rolls-Royce, Toyota and Airbus. It also raised £5 million in Series A funding in 2022, further positioning it as a leader in the burgeoning field of 3D printing.

5. KOMI

Founders: Lewis Crosbie, Ben Deigman, and Olly Haddon-Patton

Social media marketing is fast becoming the dominant space for advertisers. However, for content creators and aspiring influencers, a lot of marketing tools are too costly or clunky to utilise.

Enter KOMI, an all-in-one platform designed to help creators enhance their online presence and monetise their content. The platform offers a suite of tools, including a mini-site builder for selling digital products, a monetisation hub to connect with brand partners and email/SMS marketing features to communicate directly with fans.

It’s fair to say KOMI has been a hit so far, having attracted a user base of four billion and accomplishing £5.5 million in growth capital investment in July 2024. With influencer culture now fully entrenched across nearly all forms of media, it’s set to be a big winner in 2025.

6. Sona

Founders: Steffen Wulff Petersen, Oli Johnson, and Ben Dixon

Organising a workforce is daunting – from managing payroll to sorting out annual leave, it’s a serious admin headache, particularly for care and hospitality businesses, which can employ thousands of workers at once.

Steffen Wuff Peterson, Oli Johnson and Ben Dixon understood the strenuous processes of these industries all too well. From this experience, they developed Sona, a workforce management platform that streamlines operations for frontline businesses. Its features include smart scheduling, time and attendance tracking, shift filling and employee communication tools.

With over 100,000 frontline users and $27.5 million in Series A funding, Sona’s platform is truly a saving grace for frontline businesses struggling with administrative tasks. 

7. trumpet

Founders: Nick Telson, Rory Sadler, and Andrew Webster

Working in sales can feel like a helter-skelter. With hundreds of emails, PDF attachments, web pages and calendars being updated rapidly, your head is already reeling just trying to keep up with it all.

Fortunately, trumpet is here to slow down this bumpy ride. The platform centralises the buyer journey with trackable digital rooms, known as “pods”. This means that instead of a shared Dropbox, trumpet enables sales teams to manage the entire buyer journey in one place, from initial contact to deal closure.

Not only is trumpet’s tune music to the ears of top business clients, but it also secured £4.9 million in seed funding in August. Now, that’s worth a round of applause.

8. Swiipr Technologies Ltd.

Founders: Tara Spielhagen and Ian Clowes

There’s not much worse than a delayed or cancelled flight. Your journey is on hold and you’re stuck in a busy airport with equally stressed passengers. Perhaps worst of all, you don’t know whether you’ll be properly compensated.

Founder Tara Spielhagen faced this frustration when she was stranded at the airport due to a flight cancellation. Irked by the industry’s outdated compensation system, Spielhagen came up with Swiipr. The startup enables airlines to offer passengers pre-paid Swiipr cards, which can be used on food and drink at the airport.

After securing £6 million in Series A funding, Swiipr’s solution is set to take off in 2025 and improve the travel experience for millions of passengers this year.

9. Cerbos

Founder: Emre Baran, Charith Ellawala, and Alex Olivier

Every application needs a user permissions system, yet they’re notoriously difficult to build.

Cerbos tackles this pain point by offering an open-source authorisation layer that simplifies and centralises access control within applications. Instead of building complex permissions from scratch, Cerbos offers an enterprise-ready authorisation management system that can be almost instantly rolled out across an organisation.

Cerbos’ impressive solution hasn’t gone unnoticed. Not only has it teamed up with many businesses across the blockchain and AI industries, but it’s also secured partnerships with some of the biggest names in tech, including Microsoft, Google Cloud and Amazon Web Services (AWS). We’ve no doubt it will be a business’s favourite cyber guard dog in 2025.

10. Howbout

Founders: Neil Tanna, Jake Jenner, and Duncan Cowan

With how busy life can get, even just meeting up for coffee with friends can require two or three weeks’ notice. And while social media makes it easier to connect with others, the constant noise of advertisements and influencer content means there isn’t much room for personal friendships anymore.

While Howbout can’t change the commotion of modern life, it’s here to make connecting with close friends easier. It’s a digital calendar that allows users to share their weekly plans, see friends’ schedules, and create groups to organise get-togethers.

Howbout’s concept is simple but effective, having attracted almost five million downloads in over 150 countries while partnering with well-known brands such as Tinder. This year, we think you’ll hear millions more GenZers using the app. Howbout that?

11. cheqd

Founders: Fraser Edwards, Ankur Banerjee, and Javed Khattak

Cryptocurrency was invented to give people the ability to make decentralised, peer-to-peer money transfers without the need for a third party. But in 2025, the question is all about how to make the concept work for personal identity.

cheqd is answering the problem. Through its blockchain-based network, users and organisations can create and share digital credentials and data, allowing for direct and trustworthy interactions, all while maintaining privacy and without the need for centralised authorities.

cheqd’s innovative approach addresses crypto data and privacy concerns, answering a major concern for businesses in 2025.

12. NOQ Group

Founders: Param Kanabar and Andrea Diaferio

Long queues at the tills can immediately kill the vibes at music festivals. What’s more, because of outdated tech, organisers often find themselves manually tracking sales, commissions, and payouts, in turn leading to miscalculations and delayed payments.

NOQ Group has come centre stage to tackle the problem by offering a platform designed to streamline event operations and improve the customer experience. Essentially a point-of-sale (POS) system but designed specifically for large events, NOQ’s software finally enables organisers to manage multiple vendors, plus boasts a suite of features to help with everything from transaction tracking to stock management.

The crowd has loved NOQ Group’s solution. It has so far secured a £3.4 million investment and partnered with major event operators like Brighton Pride and Green Man Festival. 

13. Valarian Technologies

Founder: Max Buchan

While working as a CEO for cryptocurrency investment firm CoinShares, Valarian Technologies founder Max Buchan discovered a serious lack of data ownership in global communications.

By integrating with communication software, like Microsoft Teams and Slack, Valarian gives clients full control of their data including where it’s stored, who can access it, and how it’s protected, all while helping them comply with local data protection laws, wherever their operations are based. 

Valarian’s achievements boil down to its $11 million seed investment and having successfully discovered a repeatable and scalable product-market fit that exceeds client expectations, a true testament to its understanding of customer needs.

14. growyze

Founders: Adi Hristova, Kati Hristova, and Zahari Ivanov

Inventory management is never an easy task, especially as the hospitality industry faces severe labour shortages and high staff turnover.

That’s why growyze is serving something truly special – an inventory management platform just for cafes, hotels, and restaurants. growyze has all the typical features that help businesses streamline their inventory operations like stock management and supplier ordering. But the real USP is its AI-enabled recipe tool, which transforms end-of-life products into new recipes, optimising your pantry and slashing waste. 

growyze has seen well-known brands and top investors lining up for its innovative platform. With the likes of Holiday Inn on board, and £660,000 already secured from angel investors, success is definitely on the menu in 2025 for this forward-thinking business.

 15. Volunteero

Founders: Ashley Staines and Kedar Kasarekar

Volunteering is a great way to give something back, especially to help a specific cause. However, volunteer management is outdated and rife with inefficiencies, leading to wasted time and money for the charity, and a poor experience for the volunteers.

Volunteero is a charity CRM that aims to digitise the entire process of onboarding, scheduling, communication, and tracking volunteers. Its impact is already massive. Volunteero has facilitated around ten years’ worth of volunteering hours so far.

Volunteero’s approach has not only caught the eye of early-stage venture capital firms but also some of the UK’s most well-known charities, including Citizens Advice, Oxford NHS Trust and Age UK. As tech for good goes, it’s one of the best out there today.