The winners of the 2025 Young Entrepreneurs, which reward the best young UK start-up founders, have been unveiled by the Stelios Philanthropic Foundation.
Two of this year’s winners founded tech businesses, while the third is a developer of social housing in Wales.
“This year we saw an amazing reaction from UK young entrepreneurs, with a total of 180 entries – more than double last year,” Sir Stelios, who runs the foundation, said.
“Once again there have been some astonishing and inspiring success stories that we have uncovered, demonstrating that entrepreneurship is alive and well in the UK among the young generation.”
Stelios, who founded the “easy” family of brands – including Easyjet – launched the awards last year to support good business causes that were “close to home”. Winners receive a cash injection in addition to advice from the billionaire founder.
“I think [the winners are] great role models for others to start their own business…. that is how new jobs are created in the real economy,” he said.
Ayan Mohamed scooped up the top prize of £150,000 for her company Digitech Oasis, which makes autonomous robots for helping with logistical and manual business tasks (like selecting products in warehouses).
She started her first business as a teenager, going on to found Digitech in 2022. The company has already grown to 25 staff.
“I really want to build something big with my business,” Mohamed said. “We’re building Manchester’s next unicorn and I’m excited to continue this journey to IPO.”
The second prize of £100,000 has gone to Dorian Payne and his company Castell Group, which partners with local authorities and housing associations to build essential social housing in his home of South Wales.
Payne, who will use the prize money to unlock more social housing, said the award “will help us… to scale nationally and help tackle the housing crisis. It also helps get us exposure in a difficult market.”
“With over 1.5m people on the housing waiting lists, we are on a mission to deliver much-needed social housing.”
Plug In Stations founder Andy Evangelou, who built the company to provide EV charging solutions, won third place.
The company helps customers transition to electric vehicles, focusing on the gap between tech development and real-world accessibility for EV owners.