A tech bro promised to solve homelessness. The reality was a mess

“How do you feel when you see a homeless person? How do you feel when you walk past a homeless person? How do I feel? Upset, uncomfortable, powerless.”

It was October 2018, and Alex Stephany, a bald, charismatic 30-something, was on stage at the TedxBrighton conference. A serial investor, he was already the successful founder of parking start-up JustPark. But now the entrepreneur had a bold new aim: to solve homelessness. His solution? Beam, a crowdfunding site that would raise enough money to get those on the street into permanent homes and stable jobs. At its core was a squad of caseworkers, sometimes with experience of homelessness themselves.

Many of the ideas bandied around at these conferences never happen. But in the seven years since Stephany’s speech, it seems, at least to outsiders, that he made good on his word. Beam has received multiple glowing profiles in national newspapers including the Guardian, Independent and Sky News, which spoke of the company “changing lives”. And it isn’t just media bluster: the company was endorsed by Sadiq Khan, who said he was “proud” that City Hall had helped fund it (the GLA awarded it £30,000 of seed money back in 2018), and Stephany revealed he met with then-prime minister Rishi Sunak in 2023.

Since 2018, the company has won contracts to work with dozens of local authorities — including at least 18 London boroughs — through which it claims to have supported thousands of people. And now, its new AI-powered notetaking software designed to aid social workers has spread across councils all over the capital (and the rest of Britain), and was even glowingly referred to in a speech by Keir Starmer.

But over the past few weeks, The Londoner has spoken to current and former staff who paint a worrying picture of what has really been going on at this golden child start-up. They claim it has failed to deliver on the goals it has so publicly claimed, and at one point was unable to hit targets on 85% of contracts.

Though the company has won lucrative contracts with councils across London to house those referred, in certain boroughs they found accommodation for fewer than ten people a year. And the company’s much-lauded AI software is unreliable, introducing absurd and sometimes dangerous errors into the personal care records of its vulnerable users. Meanwhile, ex-staff recount stories of a “cult”-like and “toxic” company that left those working there scarred and in need of therapy.

But why did everything go so wrong at Beam? And as they continue to grow in size, winning contracts with dozens more councils across the country, should we be worried about their influence?

Hi, I'm Andrew, the author of today's story. There's plenty more coming up, including strange retreats to rural Wales, an AI that hallucinatess Donald Trump and incendiary whistleblower complaints.

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‘Have you tried getting a job at Amazon yet?’

The first thing to understand about Beam is that it doesn’t work quite as Stephany outlined in his TEDx talk. Though crowdfunding at one time played a role, it never provided the bulk of the company’s income. Instead, much of this has come from contracts with local councils, facilitated by Stephany’s co-founder, Seb Barker, a former frontline charity and NHS employee who had experience working with local councils. The councils refer users to Beam and pay the company based on its success.