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Wednesday 25 May 2016 12:00 am

The world’s 100 most disruptive startups revealed

By: Shruti Tripathi

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Japanese startup Spiber, that makes synthetic spider thread for outdoor apparel products, has been named the world’s most influential company on the Disrupt 100 index which lists “companies shaping our futures”.

Last year, Spiber’s thread was used in the The Moon Parka, a special edition coat from outdoor clothing giant The North Face.

The list, launched by Tallt Ventures, ranked the top 100 companies on the basis of the effect they had on an existing market and their ability to introduce new customers into it.

Read more: Map: The best UK cities to launch a startup

The index, that researched over one million global startups, claimed that there “is at least one disruptive product or service on the list that would be of benefit to each of the 7.4bn people in the world”.

Other startups that made the top 10 list include Impossible Foods, a company that makes meats and cheese from plants; maritime data and analytics firm Windward; Fairfly, a company that rebooks flights at a better prices, and wireless power supply providers uBEAM.

Read more: Thinking of founding a startup? Avoid window cleaning

Over 44 per cent of disruptors ranked on the list were from Europe. Examples include Tradiio, the Portuguese music streaming platform for unsigned artists and Bioserenity, the French company developing an epilepsy diagnosis and monitoring system built into your clothing.

Matt Connolly, managing director, Disrupt 100, said: “Entire industries are being disrupted by new, often well-funded startups that are able to quickly scale and displace long-established companies. The Disrupt 100 champions those businesses who are rethinking today’s products, services, technologies and business models to open new markets and create new demand.”

Take a look at the world’s top 10 most disruptive companies:

1.Spiber – produces synthetic spider thread for outdoor apparel products

2. Impossible foods – produces meats and cheeses made from plants, not animals

3. Windward – maritime analytics firm

4.FairFly – rebooks your flight at a fairer price

5. uBEAM – provides wireless power supply

6. Illusive Networks – a cybersecurity firm

7. Humavox – maker of wireless chargers

8. What3words – maker of a geocoding system for simple communication of locations

9. Belong – provides data-driven technology for hiring talent

10. Tradiio – platform for discovering the best emerging artists

Full list here

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