Although the history of entrepreneurship dates back to the 1920s, it wasn’t until the 21st century that we started experiencing a massive outpour of innovative business solutions. Some successful ones have become essential parts of our everyday lives. If you’ve never used Airbnb, Uber, WhatsApp, MailChimp or Revolut, where have you been in the last 20 years?
- Atom Bank
- Candao
- Fruggr
- GoCardless
- Intechnica
- Lightyear.cloud
- Mind Foundry
- Railsbank
- Thought Machine
- Vodeno
- The ones to success
But not all brilliant ideas materialise. It’s interesting to note that 90% of new businesses fail. Although they have a dismal track record of success, 65% of Britons desire to launch their own firm. It demonstrates unequivocally that the likelihood of exceptional rewards still outweighs the threat of catastrophic financial disaster.
How therefore can we determine whether a start-up is a wise investment or merely a passing fad? Such a question has no right or wrong answer.
However, we’ve looked at several European businesses that are upending their respective industries with that unique “something.” Here are 10 of them that we’re especially hoping will succeed in 2022.
Atom Bank
Customer-centric, mobile-first “challenger” banking
Recall the days when you had to request a wire transfer at the branch in order to pay your clients? Atom Bank wants you to finally put that needless headache behind you. The bank’s founders built the first “for smartphone or tablet” bank in the UK without any physical locations.
Mortgages, savings accounts, and secured loans for small companies have all been added to the company’s mobile app service offering since it was formed in 2013. 15 investors have already contributed $741,6 million to the enterprise, including the Spanish bank BBVA.
Why they are distinct
The “big four” in the UK are immediately challenged by this financial organisation, which solely operates online and has a full licence.
Candao
Decentralised social metaverse demonstrates that Web3 is accessible to anyone.
Our understanding of investing is being revolutionised by tokenomics. One of the newest participants in this cutting-edge world of blockchain technology is the startup Candao, which was founded in Cyprus but has Polish roots. The 2021 startup’s mission is to maximise engagement and cooperation via artificial intelligence.
The focus of their slogan, “People can, DAOs do,” is on the value-building among the members. However, the platform’s offerings go beyond tokens. The French start-up Fruggr, established in 2020, has selected a new trend as a means of upending this paradigm: making digital better and more responsible.
Why they are distinct
Despite his inexperience, Candao has already been highlighted in well-known tech blogs, such as Hackernoon.
Fruggr
Increasing awareness of the environmental impact of digital services
It is undeniable that fossil fuels cause air pollution. However, we seldom ever discuss how our digital actions affect the environment. In an effort to disrupt this paradigm, the startup in France Fruggr, a company launched in 2020, has opted for a fresh fashion: improving and maturing digital.
Recently, innovators have been pushed to focus more on reducing the negative environmental consequences of some digital technologies (looking at you, NFTs). The assessment tool from Fruggr is really useful in this situation. They not only provide ways to “decarbonize” the IT footprint but also provide ways to better communicate about it.
Why they are distinct
Fruggr places an emphasis on social ROI and seeks to make digital technology ethical, inclusive, and accessible to all businesses.
GoCardless
Making payment easier
How often have late customer payments caused you to feel anxious? Unnoticed direct debits for subscription services are possible. To prevent a repeat of the incident, GoCardless provides insurance.
whether you manage a small family business or are the CEO of a huge international enterprise. Over the course of its 11-year existence, the UK fintech start-up has perfected the concept of a collection system handling both one-time and recurring payments with set or variable amounts. Additionally, their clever software will automatically plan a second attempt if the direct debit fails.
Why they are distinct
The greatest way to gauge a business’ reputation is through its clientele. Over 70,000 companies have previously used GoCardless’ services.
Intechnica
Using technology to help businesses grow
“Make technology make a difference” is the motto of the British start-up Intechnica, which sums up its attitude to innovation wonderfully. Since the company’s founding in 2006, several businesses in the retail, media, leisure, and service industries as well as private equity organizations have had success.
Based on the premise that many companies lag behind because they lack the skills to utilise technology to their advantage, Intechnica was founded. Because of this, they offer thorough consulting services in addition to software engineering and real-world uses of artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Why they are distinct
They differ because they intend to develop software for visual picture recognition that will safeguard youngsters in the future.
Lightyear cloud
Accounting and bookkeeping SaaS tools that are cutting-edge.
The UK startup asks a simple question: “Why use four apps when one will suffice?” Their purchasing and accounts payable system is without a doubt “the one.”
Lightyear.cloud, founded in 2017, is all about a customer-centric strategy and intelligently automating your company operations. They are completely committed to their idea that good software should be simple to use. The necessity for manual data transfer will be eliminated because they will only interact with your equipment.
Why they differ:
During a financial audit, you may provide additional teams and auditors access to your account history saved in the cloud.
Mind Foundry
The meeting point of AI research and innovation
When academics and technology work together, great things happen. This Oxford University platform, which combines scientific research with technological innovation for high-stakes applications, demonstrates the validity of that premise.
Mind Foundry envisions a society in which humans and AI collaborate to solve the world’s most pressing challenges. As a result, they’ve been collaborating with the government, public sector, and insurance companies since 2016 to address the issues of the future.
What distinguishes them:
Previously, they looked at using cellphones to record and track the spread of malaria by “listening” to mosquitos.
Railsbank
enhancing the finance experience with brands
In the financial services sector, it is growing more and harder to separate out from the crowd. Clients no longer want to just manage their finances. They want customised experiences that will make their trip on the selected platform simple and easy.
Railsbank, which was formed in 2016, accomplishes just that. Its embedded finance experience platform enables organisations to build a vertically integrated financial ecosystem with the ultimate objective of impressing one-time users and converting them into loyal customers.
What distinguishes them:
During the epidemic, fraudulent actions in the financial sector in the United Kingdom have considerably grown. Railsbank advises its clients on the importance of being extra cautious.
Thought Machine
Core banking on the cloud
Consider the PC you purchased 20 years ago. It wouldn’t operate correctly no matter how many updates you installed or how much you upgraded its motherboard. As a result, you’d have to buy a new one anyhow. Imagine the same scenario occurring to banks because some of them continue to depend too heavily on obsolete IT technology.
This is the issue that Thought Machine seeks to address. Instead of relying on legacy IT, the UK start-up was founded in 2016 to create banks from the ground up. As a result, businesses will be able to effortlessly keep up with 21st-century technology and their customers’ service excellence requirements.
What distinguishes them:
Thought Machine is rapidly expanding and employing new employees. That is always a positive indicator.
Vodeno
The world’s first financial platform that is completely built on Google Cloud.
So you’ve got a brilliant idea for the next big thing in finance but don’t know where to begin. Or do you wish to upgrade your current business to more contemporary solutions? Maybe you’re merely an e-commerce company trying to expand your product line. Vodeno, founded in 2018, is an excellent tech partner in all of these situations.
The full Banking-as-a-Service platform of the Polish firm will assist you in developing the ideal solution for your clients while adhering to tight industry requirements. Furthermore, because it is API-enabled, any transfer from your present solution to Their cloud will be a piece of cake.
What distinguishes them:
It’s a turnkey solution for retail and SME banking.
Those who will succeed
According to statistics, three new businesses are founded every second throughout the world. Most of them will fail within the first year as a result of misaligned products or services.
The ten European firms we presented above completed thorough study. That is why they are currently making waves in the tech business. And we’re interested in seeing what they do after that.