Meet the 2025 Hustle Awards shortlist
But before we dive into the names, let’s recognise the people behind the shortlist – our esteemed judging panel.
2025 judges:
- Onyeka Nweze, former The Apprentice contestant and entrepreneur
- Shammi Raichura, Operations Lead at Uber
- Ashleigh Ainsley, Co-Founder of Colorintech
- Yvonne Nagawa, Founding member of Black Seed Ventures
- Lee Chambes, Founder and CEO of Male Allies UK
- Agata Nowicka, serial entrepreneur, investor and the managing partner of Visionaries
- Rory Chambers, Founder and high-performance coach of ROARFiTT
- Eda Taskin, investment and venture-building expert, currently a manager at Tenity
- Vasily Alekseenko, Founder of Rare Founders
- Cynthia Davis CBE, CEO and Founder of Diversifying Group
- Charlotte Bloom, CEO of VSNRY and award-winning Author
- Tommie Edwards, CEO of Tech1M
- David Kaiser, CEO and Founder of Oneder
Fair, rigorous, and expert-led judging
This year’s judging was more thorough than ever. Every submission underwent a two-phase review. The first phase involved judges independently scoring entries against set criteria. The highest scorers advanced to the second stage: a full-day deliberation session hosted at MYO Bankside on May 15th. There, our panel of experts – including leaders from Uber, Google, Tenity, and more – debated, discussed, and selected the best of the best.
“The calibre was staggering. The conversations were passionate. And the final shortlist truly reflects the brilliance in our ecosystem.”
— Tennessee Watt, Google Brand Marketing Manager & previous Hustle Awards judge
“We really get to go into depth into theses organisations and the impact that a lot of these organisations have had – it is incredible to see.”
— Cynthis Davis CBE, CEO, and Founder of Diversifying Group & Hustle Awards judge
Most Innovative Tech
- Arbe Perception Radar (Phoenix)
- Mindgard
- Ono
- PRSNT
- Taxd Company Accounts
- Vox Aeris
- YASO
- YEO Messaging for Business
- CleverFi
- Duamentes
Early-Stage Innovation
- 3R Innovation
- AnyFeast
- B&T Products Ltd
- Inodash
- Lagom Hem
- Legacy Compass
- NeuroEM Therapeutics
- shizl
- femaleadvisoryboard.co.uk
- Vox Aeris
Founder of the Year
- Charlotte Williams, Elysian – elysianuk.org
- Dan Archer, Visiting Angels – visiting-angels.co.uk
- Garreth Wood, Kids Operating Room – kidsor.org
- James Green, Taxd – taxd.co.uk
- Hugh Frost, CoolRun by Hubl Logistics – coolrun.co.uk
- Mark Sweeny, de Novo Solutions – de-novo-solutions.com
- Melissa Gauge, SpareMyTime – sparemytime.com
- Mohammed Alsalehi, ComplyCube – complycube.com/en
- Royden Greaves, Jarvis – getjarvis.app
- Viviene Bish-Bedeau, CEO – ceopportunities.co.uk
Eco Warrior(s)
Inspirational Woman of the Industry
- Caroline Marshall, Upsource
- Charlotte Williams, Elysian
- Grace Graham, WorkSpa
- Marie-Josée Lamothe, McGill Dobson Centre
- Naomi Owusu, Tickaroo
- Rebecca Oatley, Wilful Group
- Sami Wunder
- Selene Sari, Vox Aeris
- Trudi Roscouet, Vitality 40 Plus
- Viviene Bish-Bedeau, CEO
Young Entrepreneur Award
Most Successful Scaleup
Outstanding Startup Support
- Biotope by VIB
- Burning Heroes Founders Association
- Cherish PR
- Hatch Enterprise
- NEC X’s Elev X! Venture Studio
- Oxford Innovation Space
- Rare Founders
- Reddie & Grose LLP
- Tech Zero
- Verticode
Social Impact Hero(es)
- Boshhh Group
- Entrepreneurs Unlocked
- WCorp
- GiveWheel
- Gretel
- Blip
- McGill Dobson Centre for Entrepreneurship
- Orli
- PivotSimply
- Rachel Dunford, The Impact Specialist
Top Performing Team
Workspace of the Year
- ARC – Advanced Research Clusters
- Barnsgrove
- Better Space
- The Brew
- Bruntwood, Centre City
- Clockwise
- colbea
- The Dryden Enterprise Centre (DEC)
- Somerset House Exchange
- Workshed
