The Entrepreneurs

Jules Trecco and Marc Simoncini co-founded Angell in 2018. A French e-bike company, launched with the future of our cities in mind, its first vehicle was created by French product and furniture designer Ora-Ïto. One of the lightest e-bikes on the market, with a sharp streamlined design, Angell’s smart technology makes cycling safer for riders and motorists too.

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Canadian serial entrepreneur Michele Romanow is the co-founder and president of e-commerce investor Clearbanc. Since launching in 2015, the company has invested more than US$1.5bn in more than 4,000 companies in five countries. Romanow, also a co-host on CBC television show ‘Dragons’ Den’, says that though e-commerce is booming, retail may now be as important as ever for brands, where consumers expect great in-store experiences and seamless online shopping.

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Vivien and Howard Wong co-founded mochi ice-cream brand Little Moons in 2010 after leaving careers in finance. The brother-and-sister team grew up watching their parents run a family bakery, and loved to eat the traditional Japanese mochis. They began by selling directly to London restaurants and are now stocked by Whole Foods, Selfridges and Amazon.

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We meet Jessica Warch and Sidney Neuhaus, childhood friends who grew up in family jewellery businesses and are now co-founders of Kimai, a brand built around lab-grown diamonds in Antwerp, which is appealing to more socially aware buyers. Plus: spirits-branding expert Elwyn Gladstone joins to discuss Hotel Starlino, an all-natural aperitivo and vermouth range distilled in Turin.

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Bethan Higson founded Mother Root, a London-based aperitif brand, from her Peckham kitchen. The company’s first product, the all-natural Ginger Switchel, is a revival of a traditional mixture dating back to the 1700s, made from ginger, honey, apple-cider vinegar and chilli. Higson used her experience in the wine business to partner with restaurants and retailers in her neighbourhood.

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Jessica Mason is the founder and CEO of Piglet, a linen bedding and sleepwear brand that she launched in 2017. Jessica started her career in marketing and PR, working in London and Dubai for brands including Aēsop and Ray-Ban, experience which has come in handy in growing her own brand. Jessica recounts the growth of Piglet from its modest beginnings at her parents’ home in Sussex to breaking into the US market.

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Hans Meyer is co-founder of Amsterdam-based hotel company Zoku, which launched in 2016. Zoku’s apartments are designed to act as hybrid work and living spaces that allow us to relax, sleep, entertain or simply focus. The company will open properties in Vienna and Copenhagen later this year. Meyer was co-founder of another Dutch brand, CitizenM, and began to work on Zoku’s concept while living in Bali, Buenos Aires and Washington.

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Equiano is a rum made between Africa and the Caribbean, which is using its name to tell the story of Olaudah Equiano. The Nigerian-born writer and abolitionist was able to buy his freedom from slavery in the 18th century in part by selling rum, before settling in London. Two of the brand’s co-founders, Ian Burrell, a prominent rum expert, and Aaisha Dadral, who is behind the creative studio Crave, discuss creating the perfect rum to tell Equiano’s story.

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Tim Keaveney and Matt Aubrey are the founders of Homethings. They’ve created a range of non-toxic cleaning products, which come in efferservent tablets that can be added to water in the company’s glass spray bottles, cutting down on plastic waste. The company was launched last year after a successful kickstarter campaign – and hundreds of household cleaning experiments.

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Johann Bödecker and Jamie Hall are the co-founders of Pentatonic, a design firm that creates products that promote a more sustainable way of living. Run between London and Berlin, they’ve worked with a host of top brands, such as Microsoft, Red Bull and Starbucks, and recently collaborated with Otherware, the creative collective launched by Pharrell Williams. Together they created the Pebble, a portable cutlery kit made in part from recycled CDs.

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