To follow on from our maiden Tech Invest event, we’ve profiled some of the most exciting technology companies in the UK.

GrowthBusiness has now produced a new 2014 version of Tech Innovators, where we have again profiled some of the best technology ventures in the UK through interviews with founding entrepreneurs.

HipSnip

Based in: London Founded in: 2011 No. of employees: 5 Company founder: Phil Woodward

Founder profile:

Phil Woodward previously worked at strategy consulting firm Mars & Co, where he carried out board-level consulting for companies such as Sony, Pepsi and American Express.

Background business profile:

HipSnip provides a shopping community platform that helps companies better convert online visits to sales, improve organic search traffic and develop a loyal community. HipSnip adds a channel to a company’s website where shoppers can get advice on what to buy, both from each other and from product experts.

Inside track:

The HipSnip online shopping portal is a result of insights garnered by founder Phil Woodward during his time doing a piece for Sony on the companies TV offering.

Seeing they were being killed by Samsung, Woodward had access to a wide range of customer insights and began thinking about how people shop online.

A post purchase idea was first trialled but, seeing that didn’t work very well, Woodward and his co-founder quickly pivoted to a model which allows users to get advice on what to buy.

The Angel CoFund has stepped in alongside a group of business angels to back the business with an extra £125,000 and in December 2012 HipSnip was successful in launching with its first major customer.

The self serve platform is driving towards will mean that anyone can hit the site and get building without ever having to talk to the HipSnip team.

‘That means we can do some marketing and acquire some customers without having to have a direct sales team,’ Woodward says.

‘We are well positioned, that is why we are now looking at a Series A round. We could grow organically, but we see our product – around real-time interaction – is something which others are looking at increasingly.’

Woodward is incredibly bullish about the industry and confident that he has the team in place to make a successful go of it. The challenge, he says, is ultimately in the selling.

Recent milestones:

• Investment – August 2012, raised angel seed round
• Clients – December 2012, launched with first major customer, Future Publishing
• User acquisition – April 2013, passed 10,000 registered users
• Traffic – June 2013, more than 3.5 million questions posted to platform per month

Upcoming milestones:

• Partnerships – reseller deals with major e-commerce providers
• Clients – launches with new retailers and further publisher expansion
• Product – launch of ‘self-serve’ platform

Recent technology:

HipSnip is easy to set up and requires no complex web development to install. A site can be made in a few minutes, and adding it to a website is as simple as adding a link. There are both desktop and mobile interfaces and multiple social log-ins are built in.

Alliances:

• Tradedoubler and other affiliate networks

Investors:

• A consortium of angel investors, including the Angel CoFund

See also: 25 of the most exciting fast growing technology companies in the UK