Announcing the Tech City Top 25

Meet the movers and shakers

2013 has been chock-full of multi-million pound funding rounds, launches and ideas that make our everyday lives better.

Tech City News Print Edition — Find out more about the Top 25 in our first print edition

It’s the people that make a tech cluster.

As part of the launch of our first print edition, we profiled the top 25 who’ve made London’s tech scene the great place it is.

These are the people that have turned the hype into reality, the thought leaders, the doers, the game changers.

Some you’ll already know, and some you’ll be meeting for the first time.

We worked with political cartoonist Matthew Buck to profile this year’s list.

The Tech City Top 25 of 2013

In no particular order…

Eric van der Kleij

Since leaving the Tech City Investment Organisation, Eric has turned Canary Wharf in the East of London into a world-renowned centre of financial, retail and smarter cities innovation.

Benjamin Southworth

No man has done more to bring the startup community closer to government. Benjamin Southworth has listened, and banged the drum for tech entrepreneurs across London. He now plans to launch the Ada Lovelace Academy free school with a focus on coding skills.

Charles Armstrong

Blending creativity and the technology of the future like no other, Charles Armstrong has been an asset to Tech City. He recently rallied the troops against planning regulations that threatened to destroy Shoreditch’s creative community.

Pete Smith

Recruitment has been one of the biggest issues facing London’s booming scene. Pete Smith & Cristina Camisotti’s Silicon Milk Roundabout jobs fair attracts talent from across Europe and has given a leg up to the little guy by offering subsidised places for early stage startups.

Mike Butcher

An instantly recognisable face across Europe’s tech scenes, Mike Butcher is widely credited with putting Shoreditch on the map with the launch of the TechHub co-working space. He continues to fly the flag for the capital in his role as editor-at-large at TechCrunch.

Michael Acton Smith

CEO, Creative Director and founder of kids entertainment company Mind Candy, Michael is something of a legend in Tech City. With one successful startup under his belt Michael launched Mind Candy, now valued at more than $250 million.

Rohan Silva

One of the most memorable policymakers of the coalition government, Rohan Silva put technology at the heart of policy in No.10. A breath of fresh air in politics, we’re looking forward to seeing his first startup come to life in 2014.

Elizabeth Varley

Identifying the need for affordable co-working space for startups back in 2009, alongside Mike Butcher, Elizabeth Varley has played an instrumental role in starting TechHub. She’s now taken the brand global to Romania, Latvia and Germany.

Eze Vidra

The frontman behind Google Campus in London, Eze Vidra has enthusiastically promoted startups across the capital. He’s also a co-founder of TechBikers, which brings the community together by raising money for the Room to Read charity.

Sarah Wood

Sarah is the co-founder and COO of the hugely successful video technology company Unruly Media, which she launched in 2006. Often found in “entrepreneurs to watch” top tens, Sarah still manages to combine her role at Unruly with a teaching role at Cambridge University.

Eileen Burbidge

Ranked #11 in the 100 most influential technology investors in Europe by the Telegraph. Eileen is one of the most approachable VCs on London’s tech scene and a regular TV commentator on the biggest tech issues.

Stef Lewandovski

No-one inspires us to get out there and make new things quite like Stef Lewandowski. After a successful exit, he’s inspired others through his new Makeshift studio.

Eben Upton

As founder of the Raspberry Pi computing platform, Eben has put over 2 million affordable computers into the hands of the programmers of the future.

Azmat Yusuf

Londoners need no longer get lost in the capital and they have Azmat Yusuf’s Citymapper app to thank. For that, we are truly thankful.

Baroness Lane-Fox

Martha Lane Fox, also known as Baroness Lane-Fox of Soho, CBE is a co-founder Lastminute.com. In the House of Lords she championed the digital issues that matter.

Sara Kelly

Through her work at Coadec, a lobbying organisation for tech startups, Sara Kelly has fought hard for entrepreneurs across Britain. Now working inside City Hall, we think she’s a face to watch in the world of policy.

Alice Bentinck

Co-founder of Entrepreneur First, a graduate accelerator programme with a unique model of recruiting individuals before they have teams or ideas, Alice has helped create 11 startups now valued at an incredible $32m.

Kam Star

Digital media entrepreneur, inventor, researcher, investor and award winning games developer, Kam is also the founder of Digital Shoreditch, one of the key events of the year.

Bindi Karia

After spending seven years at Microsoft Bizspark programme, Bindi gained the title ‘Queen of Startups’. She now heads up Silicon Valley Bank’s growing London presence.

Jon Bradford

Jon Bradford is responsible for bring the TechStars programme to London. He’s also part of the founding team behind Tech.eu.

Andy McLoughlin

Back in 2006 Andy McLoughlin co-founded Huddle, the enterprise cloud collaboration company. Huddle is used by more than 100,000 businesses worldwide. Now based in San Francisco, Andy is seen as one of the pioneers of Silicon Roundabout.

Alan Turing

The father of computer science is often overlooked despite playing a key role in winning WW2 . Alan Turing took his own life in 1952 but his legacy is still felt today.

Sherry Coutu

In 2013 Sherry Coutu was awarded CBE for her services to entrepreneurship and is an prominent angel investor. Through her Silicon Valley Comes to the UK programme she’s given British startups a platform to the rest of the world.

Richard Moross

Known for their legendary parties here in Tech City, Richard founded the online print business MOO back in 2004. Now with more than 200 staff, and 3 Webby’s under their belt, Richard is another early Tech City pioneer.