Winner: Rob Harlow, Co-founder and CIO, SoPro Group
Company: SoPro Group, Brighton
Award Won: The Gamechanger – Entrepreneur of the Year, Sussex Chamber Business Awards, 2021
Success: Regional leadership recognition during a critical scale-up phase for SoPro
By 2021, SoPro was no longer just a fast-growing startup.
It had evolved into a global player serving over 600 active clients, employing 250+ people, and innovating the very model of B2B lead generation.
Yet amidst rapid growth, SoPro remained fiercely committed to its Brighton and Sussex roots.
Rob Harlow’s challenge was two-fold:
Scale an international tech business without losing sight of community impact, transparency, and innovation.
Stay personally hands-on in leading new projects, mentoring future founders, and building new products that would define SoPro’s future.
Being named Entrepreneur of the Year by the Sussex Chamber was not just a personal milestone. It was crucial validation that Rob’s vision, leadership, and resilience were shaping a business the entire region could be proud of.
Here’s what we did:
🧠 Entrepreneurial Innovation
Rob’s award-winning leadership in 2020/2021 included:
📈 Driving SoPro’s revenue to £Undisclosed million with no external investment.
🧠 Leading the creation of a new SaaS spin-off that opened new global markets.
🖥️ Expanding SoPro’s tech capabilities with a 39-strong in-house development team.
🌱 Launching Level Up Laptops to bridge the digital divide for Sussex schoolchildren.
🤝 Founding Founders Hub to mentor, invest in, and incubate Brighton-based start-ups.
👩💻 Launching SoPro’s Developer Academy to train the next generation of tech talent.
Every initiative reflected Rob’s belief: technology should enable opportunity—for businesses, communities, and future entrepreneurs alike.
🏆 Rob Harlow was awarded The Gamechanger – Entrepreneur of the Year at the Sussex Chamber Business Awards, 2021.
The significance of this recognition:
🏛️ Positioned Rob as a leading entrepreneur in the South East business community.
🏆 Boosted SoPro’s employer brand during a crucial talent recruitment phase.
📣 Opened new conversations with partners, investors, and collaborators impressed by SoPro’s leadership.
🚀 Gave Rob and SoPro even greater momentum to continue innovating on a global stage.
✅ Proved that entrepreneurship is about impact as much as innovation.
✅ Highlighted how regional leadership can fuel global expansion.
✅ Positioned Rob Harlow and SoPro as tech and community leaders.
✅ Inspired future projects that kept Brighton and Sussex at the heart of SoPro’s story.
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