There’s only one thing we love more than inspirational Steve Jobs quotes on Instagram, and that’s startups succeeding. From clients seeing their apps climbing up the App Store rankings, to the tech startups continually proving that there’s more to London than Big Ben and bad weather, success stories aren’t hard to to come by – especially in the capital.

Last year we wrote a post all about the startups doing great things in 2017, and it’s time for another dive into the tech world to see who’s flying high this summer.

Stasher

Lugging heavy bags around London is our worst nightmare, especially in this heat. Paying to store luggage at train stations is well up there on our ‘things we don’t want to pay for’ list, alongside car park tickets, extra storage on Dropbox and tomato ketchup sachets at McDonalds.

Unfortunately, the stress of dragging a heavy bag around means options are somewhat limited, and Stasher lessens the pain of paying for storage by making storing your luggage easy, affordable and safe.

Stasher is based on the AirBnB model. They work with hundreds of shops and hotels in cities all across Europe to provide somewhere for travellers to store their luggage. Customers book through the website, receive a confirmation email and can drop their luggage off. All storage points have a secure area for storing bags, and every piece of luggage is insured for up to £750.

Storing your luggage with Stasher costs £6 for 24 hours, and £5 for every additional day. This is less than half the price of storing your bag for a day at King’s Cross station. All ‘StashPoints’ are a few minutes walk from the station, and all you need to bring is proof of your booking.

To say that Stasher are smashing it would be an understatement. The company has raised over $1 million and have StashPoints across London, Paris, Rome, Florence and many more cities in Europe.

Marshmallow

Marshmallow want to lessen the financial difficulty that comes from moving to a new country.

Attempting to drive in the UK without a British driving license can feel like a never-ending series of hoops to jump through. Previous records mean absolutely nothing when it comes to car insurance, and Marshmallow are changing that.

Marshmallow is an insurance company that wants to make it easier for people to drive in the UK by accepting international licenses, as well as ‘no claims’ bonuses from abroad. They have also ditched the fees, meaning those without a UK driving license will pay lower premiums, and can avoid being overcharged when they move to the UK.

Tandem

We love anything fintech, and Tandem is our latest venture into a new form of banking. While we’ll never neglect our trusty Monzo cards, the Tandem card is a great addition to our wallets and provides something slightly different in the way of features.

Not only does Tandem allow you to manage all your bank accounts using just one single app, it also helps to reduce your bills by finding you better deals. Tandem also automatically shows you how much you spend each month and notifies you when your bills are due.

So far, it’s the easiest way that we have found to manage our money completely – and it also has no fees when you spend or withdraw cash abroad.

Pockit

Another fintech startup (you may start to notice a theme developing here), Pockit wants to make bank accounts available to everyone, regardless of their income or credit status.

The company provides customers with an online account, a mobile app and Master Card. It’s open to all – meaning no credit checks, and users can sign up within minutes, receiving their card, account number and sort code. Money can be transferred to both UK and international bank accounts.

Pockit are also totally transparent about their fees, which is a welcome change in the banking world! The contactless Master Card costs 99p, as do bank transfers, ATM withdrawals and the monthly membership fee. The Pockit app is available on both iOS and Android, is easy to navigate and well designed.

Zego

Last on the list we’ve got Zego, who provide flexible insurance for self-employed workers. Zego provides insurance by the hour, which connects to work providers and only covers you when you are actually working.

With more and more people opting to work freelance for the flexible lifestyle it offers, insurance that mirrors this flexibility is well-needed. Zego’s first product was a pay-as-you-go scooter and car insurance for food delivery workers. Zego charges by the hour and drivers need only buy cover for when they are actually working.

For anyone self-employed thinking this sounds like a little too much to organise, Zego connects to the workplaces automatically. This means drivers don’t need to tell Zego when they are working. Instead, the cover starts once they log in for their shift.