↳ Buying signals · Startups hiring sales
Startups hiring salespeople in the UK right now
Right now 39 venture-backed B2B startups from Y Combinator are hiring for 88 sales roles in the UK (checked October 14, 2026). 16 of them are hiring SDRs or BDRs, and 4 are hiring a founding seller or head of sales. The list shows each company, what it does and the open roles with links.
| Company | What they do | Batch | Open sales roles |
|---|---|---|---|
| Docker | Software development platform. | Summer 2010 |
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| Stripe | Economic infrastructure for the internet. | Summer 2009 |
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| Vanta | Vanta—the proven leader in automated compliance helping startups… | Winter 2018 |
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| Zip | The future of B2B spend | Summer 2020 |
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| Faire | The global online platform empowering independent retail. | Winter 2017 | |
| Algolia | A developer-friendly and enterprise-grade search API. | Winter 2014 |
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| Tremendous | How businesses send money to people at scale. Fast, free, global. | Winter 2011 |
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| Legora | The AI workspace for lawyers | Winter 2024 |
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| KERNEL | Crazy fast, open source infra for AI agents to use the Internet | Summer 2025 |
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| Fivetran | The leader in automated data movement | Winter 2013 |
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| SingleStore | The cloud-native, operational database built for speed and scale. | Winter 2011 |
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| Webflow | Professional website design and publishing platform. | Summer 2013 |
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| Axiom.ai | No-code Browser RPA | Winter 2021 |
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| Cosine | Fully Agentic SWE | Winter 2023 |
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| Mixpanel | Mixpanel is event analytics for builders that need answers. | Summer 2009 |
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| Campfire | The AI Native ERP for the fastest growing companies. | Summer 2023 |
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| Elyos AI | AI Customer Service Agents for trades and field services | Summer 2023 |
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| Jeeves | International banking infrastructure for global startups. | Summer 2020 |
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| Happl | Your personalised benefits and engagement platform for global teams | Winter 2022 |
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| Solve Intelligence | AI patent drafting, prosecution, litigation and more for legal teams. | Summer 2023 |
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| Benchling | Unlocking the power of biotech with modern software for modern science | Summer 2012 |
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| Alloy | AI prototyping tool for product managers | Winter 2023 |
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| Deepgram | Building foundational AI for speech transcription and understanding. | Winter 2016 |
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| Lattice | Modern people management platform. | Winter 2016 |
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| Plume | Renewable infrastructure deployment at scale. | Summer 2024 |
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| Plane | #1 easiest-to-use payroll for startups | Winter 2017 |
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| Juicebox | AI Agents for Recruiting | Summer 2022 |
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| Gigs | The OS for Embedded Telecom | Winter 2021 |
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| Moss | Real-time semantic search for Conversational AI | Fall 2025 | |
| telli | intelligent interactions | Fall 2024 |
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| InfluxData | The platform for building and operating time series applications. | Winter 2013 |
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| Ashby | All-in-one recruiting platform that empowers hiring excellence in… | Winter 2019 |
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| Encord | The data layer for physical AI | Winter 2021 |
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| FirstWork | Rippling for seasonal workers | Summer 2024 |
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| Conveo | Growth through always‑on consumer understanding | Summer 2024 |
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| Meticulous | Automated e2e screenshot testing without writing or maintaining tests | Summer 2021 |
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| Fleek | A B2B marketplace for wholesale second hand fashion | Winter 2022 |
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| Padlet | Papyrus → Parchment → Paper → Padlet | Winter 2013 |
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| Lightdash | The open source Looker alternative | Summer 2020 |
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Source: the open Y Combinator company list (yc-oss) and each company's public job board on Greenhouse, Lever or Ashby. We checked 593 active B2B companies with a public board. Company level only. Updated weekly.
↳ What the signal says
A sales hire is a pointer.
A startup hiring its first account executive or a team of SDRs is building a sales motion. For anyone selling to sales teams, such as pipeline tools, sales training or recruiting, that is a direct signal of a need right now. For everyone else it shows growth more than intent: in an analysis of about a million software purchases, more job ads went with only 7 percent more purchases, while real headcount growth went with 38 percent (Bloomberry 2025). Combine the signal with fit.
Which startups are hiring SDRs right now?+
The list on this page shows venture-backed B2B startups with open SDR and BDR roles, taken from their public job boards and updated weekly. Filter by the US, the UK, Europe or remote.
How do I find startups hiring their first salesperson?+
Look for founding account executive, first sales hire or head of sales roles at companies with small teams. Those companies are building a sales motion from scratch, which is a strong moment for anyone selling to sales teams.
Is a startup hiring salespeople a buying signal?+
For anyone selling to sales teams it is a direct one: new reps need pipeline, tools and training. For others it shows growth more than intent, so combine it with fit and a second signal.