And while not all the companies listed are rooted in areas that interest me, I find it fascinating to see what “success” looks like, especially given the current climate.

Curious to see who made the cut, and why? Let’s find out….

ARRIVAL

Automotive | Founded: 2015 | Headcount: 1,150

Arrival is an electric vehicle start-up, focussed on buses, vans, taxis and delivery robots built with versatile, sustainable and low-cost materials. Having secured a €100m investment from Hyundai and Kia, Arrival set about establishing specialist “microfactories” - production plants located close to areas of demand to utilise local supply chains and talent. In an article on Medium, their Materials Team explain:

“‘At Arrival we have the freedom to develop completely new ways of thinking about materials for design. This approach has provided engineers with the means to do things differently, which is fundamental if we are to succeed in bringing about a revolution in sustainable transportation”.

Arrival credit their success to overcoming the limitations of “stamping” – a costly and time-consuming process used for the conventional production of metal body vehicles.

The article continues:

“In the pursuit of radical performance at low cost, we have moved progressively up the supply chain. Not only do we produce the vehicle; but in the case of our composites we manufacture the panels, the fabrics and the fibres. This creates the opportunity to make improvements at every step, and take advantage of trade-offs that would otherwise not be possible. For example, by adjusting the chemistry of the composite we can improve the efficiency of our moulding cycle, and reduce cycle time and factory cost.”

In an interview with Forbes, Arrival founder Dennis Sverdlov stated:

“The rule of this game of big factories is broken… If you do things exactly the same as others do it's quite strange to expect better results.”

He’s right on the money there. Just like his company’s focus on zero waste. By carefully assessing the materials they use in the production process – and prioritising efficiency and reusability - Arrival can limit their impact on the environment.

It’s not hard to justify Arrival’s inclusion in this list. When it comes to the production of sustainable and cost-effective electric vehicles, they have truly broken the mould.

REVOLUT

Financial Services | Founded: 2015 | Headcount: 2,125

Perhaps it’s just me, but the name conjures up thoughts of a certain Swedish vodka brand. Revolut’s offering, however, couldn’t be further removed…

Founded in the summer of 2015, Revolut is a financial technology company aiming to provide a digital alternative to traditional banking - especially where travel is concerned. Revolut.com not only offers fast, cheap money transfers and card payments abroad (in 29 currencies), but also facilitates ATM withdrawals in 120 countries at low or no cost.

2019 was a big year for Revolut. October saw the announcement of a global deal with Visa, enabling expansion into 24 markets. The following month, they were named the winner of Deloitte’s UK Technology Fast 50 award, in part due to their average three-year growth rate of 48,477% (to the year 2018/2019) - the fourth-highest revenue growth in the 22-year history of the competition.

Then-COO, Richard Davies, commented:

“I don’t think there is a more exciting company in the world right now than Revolut. We are just in the first stages of expansion, and see phenomenal potential to create a truly global brand in the coming years. Our challenge now is to make sure the business and structure scales at the same pace, and that we continue to invest in our people and processes.”

2020 had other plans. Yet despite the impact of coronavirus (with around 60 roles being made redundant as early as May), the company has continued to roll out new features and product offerings, including their expansion to Japan in September of this year.

Not all their press in recent years has been favourable, mind.

In April 2019, the BBC reported on a whistle-blower’s concerns about compliance and the CEO’s conduct. Later that month, Wired published a piece debating whether or not the company had cleaned up its act in relation to “missteps and management failures”:

“The trailblazing fintech company had, it was alleged, suffered lapses with its sanctions screening system, faced a string of high-profile departures, asked job applicants to work for free, and attained some of its vertiginous growth by squeezing staff to achieve impossible targets.”

Then, as recently as September, Revolut made headlines again – this time in the Financial Times. In an article detailing one account holder’s eight-week battle to recover his £150,000 bank transfer, consumer complaints were also addressed:

"Revolut has been the subject of a surge in complaints about the freezing or closing of accounts. Resolver, the online complaints service, reported that it had received 3,911 complaints about Revolut so far this year, compared with 2,487 for the whole of 2019. Of this year’s complaints, 332 were about problems accessing funds, 79 were transfer errors and 176 were multiple complaints involving more than one issue."

Whether Revolut will ride the storm remains to be seen, but with co-founder and CEO, Nikolay Storonsky, recently being named the UK’s first tech start-up billionaire, I’d say the odds are in their favour.