The winner of the Fastest Rising Category is YikYak, and the runner up is Slack.
Adam Crizzle, managing director of Hillcroft House, explains Angela Zvesper she should win the Rising Star category of the Guardian Small Business Showcase competition: I am nominating Angela Zvesper, Academic Lead at Hillcroft House as the rising star in the business.
Natasha Penny, owner of Busy Books, explains why Chrystal Penny should win the Rising Star category of the Guardian Small Business Showcase competition: Chrystal is Busy Books' accounts assistant.
Angela Sterling, franchisor of Lingotot, explains why Abigail Curtis should win the Rising Star category of the Guardian Small Business Showcase competition: I would like to nominate the fantastic Abigail Curtis.
Kate Tyler, managing director of Shake Social Ltd, explains why Moya Vaughan Evans should win the Rising Star category of the Guardian Small Business Showcase competition: Moya is Shake Social's social media manager.
Andrew Jennings, CEO of Larsson & Jennings, explains why Alicia Waite should win the Rising Star category of the Guardian Small Business Showcase competition: Alicia has played an instrumental role in the growth of Larsson & Jennings during the past 12 months.
Sandra Patterson, director of Kids Bee Happy Ltd, explains why Sally Tears should win the Rising Star category of the Guardian Small Business Showcase competition: Our company has just finished the first year of running our own direct sales division, which Sally Tears heads up.
Thomas Rumbold, head of operations at Onespacemedia, explains why George Hadfield should win the Rising Star category of the Guardian Small Business Showcase competition: George joined Onespacemedia as part of our creative internship programme in 2013.
Lucy Barrow, project manager of Longcroft Luxury Cat Hotel Winchmore Hill, explains why Emma Seddon should win the Rising Star category of the Guardian Small Business Showcase competition: Emma has had an exceptional year as the owner of Longcroft Luxury Cat Hotel Winchmore Hill.
Vicky Rose, head of communications at Totem Learning explains why Helen Routledge should win the Rising Star category of the Guardian Small Business Showcase competition: I have worked with Helen for over five years and she is a real inspiration.
