Seven Disruptors to Watch | Orange Paper

Seven disruptors to watch - Aug 2019

Seven disruptors to watch August 2019

By Darren Linden

Seven disruptors to watch - Aug 2019

Seven disruptors to watch - Aug 2019

Introduction The best businesses change perceptions and challenge convention. At S&S we’re big fans of “Business as unusual”, disruptive innovators who begin life as outsiders but have the potential to turn the world upside down.

Ray Kurzweil - an American inventor and futurist - said in 2001:

Over the last two decades, the democratisation of technology has significantly lowered the barriers to entry. It has provided greater choice for consumers by allowing non-traditional competitors access to markets they could only have dreamed of entering before. Combined with capital being more freely available, particularly through equity crowdfunding, it is allowing everyday citizens to invest in startups and take a stake in the burgeoning companies that could become established brands.

With dramatic change occurring in historically short periods, every 90-days S&S will publish a report on seven potential disruptors to watch, beginning with those shaking things up in the UK.

“We won’t experience 100 years of progress in the 21st century—it will be more like 20,000 years of progress (at today’s rate).”

Darren Linden Chief Transformation Officer Sullivan & Stanley (S&S)

Ray Kurzweil Inventor and futurist

By Darren Linden

Seven disruptors to watch - Aug 2019

Meet the disruptors Jaja - a mobile-first proposition that gives customers a feature-rich digital experience CupClub - returnable packaging service, which makes drinks-on-the-go more sustainable what3words - online platform and app which uses a geocoding system of three unique words to communicate locations Open Cosmos - one-stop-shop for affordable nanosatellites Loowatt - patented, innovative toilets with a waterless flush that locks in odour and disease for community and home use Nested - prop-tech startup that is solving the outdated process of how people buy and sell homes Depop - peer-to-peer marketplace app, to buy and sell secondhand and vintage clothing

Seven disruptors to watch - Aug 2019

Seven disruptors to watch - Aug 2019

Company: Jaja Founded: 2015 Sector disrupting: Consumer Finance and Credit

Jaja is a digital finance company that provides online and physical credit cards, as well as other consumer financial services. It is a mobile-first proposition that has been built to challenge the complicated world of credit, by giving its customers a feature-rich digital experience. With a focus on simplicity, functionality, service and security, it allows customers to receive their debit or credit card within five minutes - available in Apple Wallet or on the Jaja app - ahead of receiving a physical card in the post.

payments industry, saw it come out victorious in a bid for the Bank of Ireland’s UK credit card business.

Similar to challenger banks, Jaja isn’t constrained by years of legacy technology which slows down change and stifles innovation. It is digitally native, supported by principal partners and a core which enables Jaja Card and Jaja Pay, offering branded and co-branded opportunities. But, it’s relentless focus on simplicity and customer experience could see it stand out in a crowded market.

Although Jaja currently doesn’t have any customers (and hasn’t officially launched), it’s been stirring up quite a storm, winning business at the expense of more traditional rivals. Jaja’s innovative spirit and focus on delivering outstanding customer service in the

By Darren Linden

Seven disruptors to watch - Aug 2019

Company: CupClub Founded: 2015 Sector disrupting: Linear Economy

Those of a particular age will remember taking empty soft drink bottles back to the local shop to get small cash refunds. As well as supplementing pocket money, the system helped keep litter down and encouraged green habits long before recycling became a buzzword. There is an increasing focus on shifting from a linear economy - where production ultimately results in waste - to developing a circular economy. This is based on the principles of designing out waste and pollution, keeping products and materials in use, and regenerating natural systems.

CupClub is a returnable packaging service, which makes drinks-on-the-go more sustainable. By offering a subscription service, CupClub provides companies with reusable cups, which are delivered and collected daily, then washed and returned to the provider.

Since each cup is RFID tagged and registered to a user’s account, CupClub can even charge a user for unreturned cups and track any that have been discarded.

by half. However, what’s disruptive and transformative is it has scope to take this to a national level across cities. This means you could go to your local coffee shop, get your coffee or tea in one of its reusable cups, drink it on the way to work and when near your office, pop the cup in one of CupClub’s dropoff points. The team will then collect the cups in the evening, to be washed and returned to the same cafe or an additional vendor.

As a subscription service, it can be scaled up and down by vendors based on demand, without the need to ever physically buy any cups, reducing overall costs.

According to a report by the Environmental Audit Committee, 2.5 billion coffee cups are used and thrown away each year, which is around 500,000 cups a day. Of this total, less than 1 in 400 of these cups are recycled.

CupClub as a solution can be used in cafes, festivals, businesses and even vending machines, with the belief it can reduce cup waste by 40% and reduce CO2 emissions

Seven disruptors to watch - Aug 2019

Seven disruptors to watch - Aug 2019

Company: what3words Founded: 2013 Sector disrupting: Mapping and Navigation

what3words is an online platform and app which uses a geocoding system to communicate locations. By creating permanent, unique three-word addresses for every 3 metres square in the world, what3words has the potential to revolutionise the way we share our locations. Its disruptive nature means it could soon make the standard use of postcodes, addresses and even long coordinates, redundant.

Using a grid, made up of 57 trillion squares of 3 metres by 3 metres, what3words helps emergency services find people lost in rural locations, friends find their tents in the middle of a festival to postman finding an unfamiliar address. At S&S HQ, our three letters are darling.lion.race.

Currently, what3words is available in 35 languages and is being used in the systems of brands such as Mercedes Benz cars.

Emergency services in the UK have also been sending text messages containing a what3words web link to mobile phones during a crisis to help pinpoint someone’s exact location. They are even urging citizens to download the app, which is free of charge.

Lonely Planet, the world’s leading travel guide company now includes three-word codes in the latest edition of its Mongolia guidebook.

Throughout the country, addresses are scarce and limited to cities and larger towns, and the complex Mongolian language makes it hard for tourists to understand the pronunciation of streets and place names. By using what3words, travellers can easily find the entrance to Dunjingarav Market in Ulaanbaatar at ‘puns.operating.slap’ or navigate to ’offers. recalibrate.overshoes’ to enter Khorgo-Terkhiin Tsagaan Nuur National Park. It’s just one example of how such a simple system could revolutionise travel and navigation in years to come.

By Darren Linden

Seven disruptors to watch - Aug 2019

Company: Open Cosmos Founded: 2015 Sector disrupting: Space and Satellite Communications

Despite 60 years of high-profile space missions and landings on distant planets, the space industry remains traditional, slowmoving and expensive.

There is little interest in the democratisation of space missions from the big players, who handbuild one-off satellites for specific needs, with a range of different companies producing the various parts. This means nobody previously offered an end-to-end service.

Open Cosmos is a one-stop-shop for affordable nanosatellites. It has taken an unattainable resource, satellites, and made them easily attainable for small businesses.

The complex supply chain has traditionally meant each satellite would cost millions and take roughly eight years to make and launch.

Open Cosmos came in and completely turned this outdated and time-consuming process on its head.

By providing a full end-to-end service, including testing, insurance, launch and logistics, Open Cosmos has developed a nanosatellite, compatible with its customers’ existing technology. This innovative solution, dropped the price tag to a more affordable ₏500,000, with the ability to build and launch one of its qbee nanosatellites in six months.

Driven by the vision of making space available to everyone and advancing science and technology, Open Cosmos is developing a platform and a series of services that offer a ride to orbit, to payloads of any kind, at a record low price and timeframe to launch.

Seven disruptors to watch - Aug 2019

Seven disruptors to watch - Aug 2019

Company: Loowatt Founded: 2009 Sector disrupting: Sanitation and energy

The World Health Organization revealed that 827,000 people in low-and middle-income countries die as a result of inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene. The main cause of these deaths (433,000) is due to poor sanitation.

Loowatt creates physical, emotional and environmental wellbeing through waterless sanitation. It provides patented, innovative toilets, for community and home use; a highquality waterless flush that locks in odour and disease without using scarce and high-value water.

This technology features a biodegradable polymer film that lines the ‘bowl’ of the toilet.

When ‘flushed’, the liner is pulled through the mechanism, sealing waste inside and locking in odour and bacteria. The biodegradable

film is stored in the housing of the toilet while the sealing and storage system runs without power, meaning toilets can be taken completely off-grid.

Aside from providing a safe solution to sanitation, Loowatt has also created a service which takes the waste from its toilets and recycles it into electricity and fertiliser. The sealed storage cartridge feeds the waste into a ‘digester’, which can be broken down and turned into power. The resulting biogas can then be used for cooking, heating water for washing and charging mobiles phones. An additional by-product of the system is fertiliser for crops. Rather than ejecting waste into waterways or incurring high costs to dispose of it safely, Loowatt’s system reverses costs, allowing communities to profit from waste.

By Darren Linden

Seven disruptors to watch - Aug 2019

Company: Nested Founded: 2016 Sector disrupting: Real Estate

Nested is a prop-tech startup, which is solving offer its customers a cash advance for their next property. the outdated process of how people buy and sell homes, as well as challenging the Eliminating a lot of the stress and uncertainty standard chain of property sales. of selling and buying a home, including what the final budget will be, Nested aims to ensure Competing with top-end estate agents, that consumers are never caught up in a Nested provides all of the services needed property chain and miss out on their desired to sell a house, but with one key difference. home. By becoming a cash buyer, it also In addition to dealing with the valuation, marketing and sales, Nested loans customers puts its customers in the strongest possible up to 95% of the market value of their property position to negotiate. as a cash advance - that way they can purchase a new home before selling their old Disintermediation of real estate has been emerging since homeowners started asking one. whether in this digital age a property seller and a buyer really need an agent to connect Through a specially designed algorithm, Nested looks at pricing data and then creates and mediate the sale and/or purchase of a property? Nested is a technology company an accurate valuation of its users’ home. This rather than an online estate agent, which is pricing gives Nested the market confidence developing differentiating capabilities that to sell a property within 90-days. If it doesn’t achieve this, it uses a chain-free service to could finally disrupt this sector.

Seven disruptors to watch - Aug 2019

Seven disruptors to watch - Aug 2019

Company: Depop Founded: 2011 Sector disrupting: Retail

Depop is a peer-to-peer marketplace app, to buy and sell secondhand and vintage clothing.

Described as a mix of eBay and Instagram, Depop includes a social element which allows users to follow people and be followed, by curating pictures of the clothes they like, want to buy and are selling.

The Depop model continues to evolve with the premiumisation of vintage and second-hand clothing via its pop-up store inside Selfridges which is open until the end of October 2019.

‘Depop Space’ will enhance brand awareness and reputation by showcasing products from it’s most popular sellers in a luxury space, and it will offer the ability to purchase via the With a growing network of 10 million Selfridges website. The tie-up is mutually millennials and young people, Depop is beneficial, helping to build trust in the Depop already disrupting the way people buy fashion, brand with consumers who may have been but also helping to reduce clothes waste and reluctant to engage previously. Depop will also the trend of ‘throwaway fashion’. On average, host panel discussions and workshops with around 300,000 tonnes of clothing end up in top sellers, increasing customer interaction household bins every year in the UK, with 20% with the marketplace and creating a form going to landfill and 80% incinerated - a large of experiential retail that will attract different negative contributor to the environment. If types of consumers to Selfridges.

Depop can put a dent in this number, its social impact could be huge.

Depop is accessed via a mobile app that works in a similar but more informal way to eBay. Young people particularly like it because it’s quick and easy to use. Users invite bids for items they have put up for sale, which they can accept at any time. eBay’s user experience, on the other hand, hasn’t evolved and isn’t the most intuitive. It’s often hard to use and difficult to navigate, not to mention the Auction Snipers; automated bots that are used to place winning bids at the last possible second resulting in a frustrating experience for many of its users.

By Darren Linden

Seven disruptors to watch - Aug 2019

Conclusion Few executives would argue that the disruptive influence of digital is growing — and growing quickly. But, there is surprisingly little evidence of how incumbents are reacting on a broad scale. Leaders know they have a problem — and know they must react to that problem — but they often have little guidance to determine the right course of action.

When researching and compiling this report, it’s been interesting to note the unexpected areas where disruption has been occurring. The emergence of “Disruption for Good”; organisations tackling social problems in innovative ways, while digital heavyweights are being disrupted themselves by new kids on the block. Despite an uncertain political and economic environment, the UK remains one of the leading global centres for technical innovation with London, in particular, seen as a major hub for big data, fintech and a range of digital technologies.

Darren Linden Chief Transformation Officer, S&S darren.linden@sullivanstanley.com

Seven disruptors to watch - Aug 2019

Seven disruptors to watch - Aug 2019

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By Darren Linden