TechNation200 Almanac 2015/16

TechNation200 Almanac 2015/16 | London
John Spindler
Chief executive
Capital Enterprise
George Spencer
Founder
Rentify
“We saw an opportunity
to do the same thing with
letting agents as has
been done with travel agents
and bookstores. The service
is online, so you can be at
home at 10pm using it in your
underpants if you want. You
press a button on our website
and before 9am the next
day someone will turn up at
your property in their Rentify
uniform and with an ID badge.
They will take the keys to your
rental property and will get in
a professional photographer
who is on our staff to take the
photos. They will value the
property and get the advert
live, and they’ll do all that much
faster and much better than a
typical estate agent. And we
have the UK’s most popular
tenancy agreement.”
Rentify is a technology-enabled
letting agent whose service is
used by more than 200,000
landlords. It offers them three
levels of service: let my property,
manage my property or do-ityourself.
Speaking in summer
2015, Spencer said 10,000 new
landlords joined the platform
every month. @Rentify
“My job is to run this membership organisation
and represent the members to corporations
and governments, and help them generate
resources and funding so they can offer their
services to tech entrepreneurs. What we try
and do is make it to their advantage to work
together, share knowledge and share intelligence.
The London Co-Investment Fund was set up
to address the funding gap at the seed stage
facing London’s digital, science and technology
startups. It was conceived and managed by
Capital Enterprise in partnership with funding
agency Funding London. It launched with
the aim of investing in London-based digital,
science and technology businesses with six
co-investment partners: Crowdcube, Playfair,
Capital, AngelLab, Firestartr and London Business
Angels.”
Capital Enterprise’s network connects people who
support entrepreneurs, including incubators and accelerators. The non-profi t organisation also counts among
its members universities and colleges, investors and funders, local enterprise agencies and council and
business libraries. @capenterprise
Jason Stockwood
Chief executive
Simply Business
“I’m heavily influenced by what
I’ve done. There’s a model of
digital businesses that has
shrunk the distance between
the company and its customers
down to zero. I believe that the
cultures and businesses that will be
successful represent a value system
that basically values people over
processes, data and technology.
Those values and those capabilities
translate directly into customer
values. When you live and breathe
this type of business, you can
believe that that’s representative
of the UK economy or business
culture. I certainly think there are a
growing number of businesses that
share the same values and modes
of operating, but it’s unclear to me
how much of a minority that is. But I
definitely think it will change. It has
to change.”
The UK’s largest online business insurer, with 300,000 customers and revenues of £30m by summer 2015,
Simply Business was also named best company to work for in 2015. Stockwood previously held senior
positions at Match.com and Lastminute.com. @simplybusiness
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