Soother named as a finalist for the UK StartUp Awards 2026

We're very excited to announce that Soother has been named as a regional finalist in the UK StartUp Awards 2026 (https://startupawards.uk/) in the Beauty, Health & Wellbeing StartUp of the Year category, shortlisted in Midlands.

The UK StartUp Awards was launched to recognise the booming startup scene across the UK, which has accelerated significantly in recent years with around 832,000 new businesses registered in the UK in 2025. Over 900 businesses have been shortlisted for this year's UK StartUp Awards across ten nations and regions. The contribution of these firms, all of which were started in the last three years, is significant, having created nearly 5,000 new jobs since they were established and generating annual sales of over £150 million.

Founded in 2024, Soother partners with SMEs across the UK to support the mental wellbeing of their people on the front foot. The business provides easy and fast access to top quality mental health support, removing the hurdles often associated with seeking help. George Stevens launched the business after identifying that mental health support in the UK still has a long way to go to be the best it can be. While many do incredible work, Soother was built on the belief that there is more to be done to ensure workers can access high quality care without delay.

"As a solo founder it’s really nice to get some outside recognition that we’re doing good things and we’re on the right track," said George Stevens, Founder of Soother. "The world doesn’t need another opaque, complicated, tricky to access mental health offering. It needs easy to access, fast, ethical, high quality mental wellbeing support that employees actually use. That’s what we’ll always be. The work is too important to be anything else. It's really nice to see our efforts recognised in this way."

George will now represent the Midlands at the regional final, where winners go on to compete at the national final at Ideas Fest in September 2026.

Since its launch, Soother has prioritised impact over complexity, with the founder citing the company’s biggest milestone as seeing users engage with therapy for the very first time. This momentum has allowed the startup to carve out a vital niche in the mental wellbeing industry, proving that there is a significant appetite among SMEs for ethical and transparent support systems.

Professor Dylan Jones-Evans OBE, co-founder of the UK StartUp Awards (https://startupawards.uk/), said:

'New businesses are the driving force behind any thriving economy, generating employment, pioneering innovation, and contributing to prosperity right across the UK. This year's finalists represent the very best of British entrepreneurial talent, spotting opportunities and, through dedication, skill, and resilience, building ventures that are making a real difference in their industries and communities. The standard of entries in 2026 has been exceptional, and every finalist should be enormously proud of what they have achieved. Regional winners will go on to represent their region at the national final at Ideas Fest in September, and that is a stage worthy of everything they have built.'"

The UK StartUp Awards (https://startupawards.uk/), founded by Frankie James and Professor Dylan Jones-Evans as part of Ideas Community, is the UK's largest independent startup awards programme. Now in its fifth year, the awards received over 2,000 entries in 2026. Regional winners go on to compete at the national final, held at Ideas Fest (https://ideasfest.uk/), aka the Glastonbury of Business, on 9th-10th September 2026 at Champneys, Tring, Hertfordshire. For more information visit startupawards.uk.

This year's regional UK StartUp Awards finalists can be found online at https://startupawards.uk/"