A trio of UK founders took top honors at the GP Bullhound 2026 Allstars awards, with FYLD clinching High Growth Company of the Year just months after securing a £32m Series B.
The ceremony, now celebrating its 24th edition, spotlights Europe’s most influential technology entrepreneurs and the backers fueling their growth. Vishal Marria CBE, who founded the AI unicorn Quantexa, delivered the keynote conversation.
FYLD, an AI-powered field management platform launched in 2020, announced the £32m raise in February. Shelley Copsey, who co-founded the company alongside Karl Simons OBE, likened the Allstars to “the Oscars of the tech world.” She said the win validated years of “ambition meets execution” and pointed to past honourees Spotify, Revolut, and Figma as proof of the award’s credibility.
Meanwhile, Varun Bhanot’s MAGIC AI, creator of the AI-powered fitness mirror, took home Sports Tech Company of the Year. The business closed an £8m Series B in September to accelerate its American expansion. Bhanot called the recognition a first for the company, noting they had never before received a nomination in any category. He credited the win to surging US revenue, which he said will account for over half of total sales in its opening year across the Atlantic.
The Young Entrepreneur of the Year honour went to Rhys Lloyd, co-founder of Manchester-based digital pharmacy platform PharmAppy. Lloyd framed the accolade as a reflection of his team’s twelve-month transformation and their shared mission for pharmacies and patients.
Additional winners across fourteen categories included Deepstash (Consumer Tech), Koto (Digital Advertising), Opencast (AI & Digital Transformation), IONATE (Deep Tech), Inflexion (Growth & Buyout Fund), EQT Ventures (VC Fund), firstminute capital (Seed Fund), David Klein of One Peak (Investor), Apax for the Faculty exit (Exit of the Year), Moritz Kreppel of Urban Sports Club (Entrepreneur), and PER (Professional Services Firm).
The results underscore a broadening definition of European tech success, spanning fitness hardware, infrastructure software, and digital health.
