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So what are some of these incredible startups? What industries are they in? How did they do it?
We compiled two of our favourite top-performing startups in London and New York to see what it was about them that made them succeed.
FodaBox (Formally BoroughBox) - Founder Andy Lawson saw a problem in the food and beverage industry. Artisanal and independent producers were being passed over for cheaper corporate suppliers. He identified the pain points as affordability and inaccessibility for customers, so he created a retail website connecting the consumer directly to independent vendors including a variety of price brackets. FodaBox then compiles themed assortments for a variety of occasions to facilitate an efficient and exciting user experience.
They’ve since raised £4.02m in investment and have grown rapidly.
Why this worked:
While originally, Lawson founded the business to help independent food producers, the business continued to succeed because he never lost focus on his target audience either. By ensuring his high-quality products were available to everyone, FodaBox’s business model included affordable options that benefited both the suppliers and customers.
MXX (Formally Mashtraxx) - Co-Founders Joe Lyske and Philip Walsh revolutionised sound-editing for videos since the founding of MXX in 2015. They sought to fasttrack the long and complicated process of sound-editing for videos and games using a unique and patented AI software that is straightforward enough for anyone to use. Creators are able to easily design, and then edit their creations with access to multiple libraries composed of millions of tracks.
They’ve since raised three times, resulting in £1.86m of funding.
Why this worked:
Lyske and Walsh zeroed in on a service that has been traditionally difficult and realistically only achievable by a skilled minority. Their original AI product not only streamlines a lengthy process into minutes, but makes it available and, more importantly, usable by a larger consumer base.
New York is obviously a fintech powerhouse due to its position as a global finance centre, but MedTech has also become a booming startup industry there.
Spring Health - Co-Founder and CEO April Koh founded Spring Health in 2016 with Adam Chekroud to revolutionise mental health care. Both noted that either stigma, cost or accessibility prevent those struggling with their mental health from seeking help. Starting from those pain points, Koh and Chekroud adapted the process of precision medicine to ‘accurately predict the right treatment for the right person at the right time and ultimately accelerate recovery’. Not only does this methodology curate personalised mental health care to the patient, its digital platform supports an efficient and streamlined approach unique to its field.
Spring Health has undergone 5 funding rounds since their launch, resulting in a total of $295.5M in funding. They also acquired another mental health care business, Weldon, on May 18th, 2022.
Why this worked:
Koh and Chekroud took from personal experience what was not working in the mental health care industry and formulated a solution that directly addressed the pain points. They were able to appeal to a large audience and quickly proved the efficacy of their product.
Ellevest - Former CFO of Citigroup Sallie Krawcheck founded Ellevest in 2014 after noticing several gender-based disparities on traditional investing and financial platforms. There were financial specifics related to women’s lives such as gender pay gaps, different salary arcs, and the possibility of planning for childcare or taking time off to care for young children that traditionally financial platforms didn’t necessarily account for. Krawcheck’s digital platform assists women in managing their finances in terms of these specifics.
There are currently tens of thousands using Ellevest, with a successful $53 million Series B funding round.
Why this worked:
In their mission statement, Krawcheck claims they’re ‘committed to making sure that underrepresented groups are overrepresented - among our employee base, our board, and our investors.’ She took the traditional, more exclusionary, platform of tracking finances and made it accessible. By appealing to her audience’s needs, and continuously expanding the platform’s services, she garnered both investor and public support.
So what was it about these startups that made them so successful?
A great idea alone will not ensure millions in funding and a successful exit. And there’s no one industry that guarantees success. What these founders did was address specific pain points of their audience that they themselves either experienced or had observed from their past employment. By sticking close to the needs and desires of their chosen audience, they were able to reach more customers, gain the support they needed early on and continue to scale their business.
At Dream Factory, we strongly believe in the power of content to help you and a startup address those pain points of your customer throughout every stage of its development. To find out how, get in touch.
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