Deadline: October 03, 2025
The UK’s longest-running index of the fastest-growing new businesses has opened applications for 2026, offering startups a completely free platform to showcase their potential to investors and customers.
The Startups 100 aims to showcase exceptional startups to investors, potential clients, and new customers as the ones to watch, supporting and uplifting UK startups while celebrating the creativity and agility of UK startups and highlighting inspiring entrepreneurs who are using small ideas to fix giant problems. The initiative focuses on providing a vital early platform to kick-start growth stories for fledgling new businesses.
The Startups 100 2026 represents the eighteenth year of this definitive list of the UK’s 100 most promising new companies. The index has previously identified household names including Revolut, Monzo, and Deliveroo since its inception in 2008. This year’s edition holds particular significance as it aims to celebrate entrepreneurial spirit during challenging economic conditions.
Eligibility requirements are straightforward and accessible. Businesses must be headquartered in the UK, registered with Companies House, and incorporated on or after January 1, 2020. The competition welcomes applications from any industry and any location within the UK, with no age restrictions for founders.
The application process requires businesses to provide basic company and founder details, Companies House number, business journey narrative, partner and investor information, funding details, growth statistics, social impact data, and a founder image of at least 1MB. All financial data submitted remains confidential throughout the process.
The judging methodology evaluates submissions across five weighted criteria. These include the amount of funding raised, external validation such as customer testimonials and industry awards, size of scalability opportunity, strength of concept uniqueness, and level of market innovation. Judges prioritize impressive ideas with growth potential over large funding figures or well-known partnerships.
The selection process emphasizes the importance of storytelling in applications. Successful entries demonstrate impact through quotes from multiple stakeholders including team members, partners, and suppliers. The narrative approach helps judges understand both the business journey and founder passion for their mission.
Applications close on October 3, 2025, at 5pm BST, providing startups with seven weeks to complete their submissions. Winners will be announced in early January 2026. The streamlined application process ensures minimal disruption to busy startup schedules.
For more information, visit Startups.
