Plerith works with high growth start-ups and scaling companies to plan for and deliver growth. The company asserts that it helps companies promote their business to potential funders, through its network of angel and venture capital investors depending on the stage and sector of the said business. Plerith is partnering with Newable and Bristol Private Equity Club to deliver the fund in the South West London (SWL) area and identify and invest in the most exciting high growth companies in the region. Plerith argues that its deep knowledge of fundraising, sales, strategy, finance and technology would help SWL businesses flourish. Plerith aims to provide investors access to the highest quality local companies in the SWL region.
days to go:
Stretch
investment:
Withheld
Juggle helps companies hire, manage and retain experienced professionals on flexible contracts. The company has onboarded more than 9000 professionals and over 700 businesses on its platform. Juggle asserts that its portal is completely free for companies to post jobs wherein professionals will receive a recommendation to the right opportunities based on their profiles. Juggle allows both companies and candidates to manage the timesheet and payment formalities through its platform once a contract is agreed upon. The company claims that 85% of professionals recommended by its platform are interviewed. Juggle aims to become a contender in the online recruitment industry that is projected to reach $36.2 billion by 2027. It will use the investment to make additional hires in certain key positions, expand product features, and apply to the FCA for a license to handle payments at a larger scale.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£467,537
Rebel Energy (RE) is an energy supplier on a mission to address inequality and provide everyone with easy access to clean and affordable energy, to eventually eliminate fuel poverty. RE claims that fuel poverty led to 16,500+ cold-related deaths in the UK in 2018. RE argues that as the UK home electricity market enters a phase of growth in a post-COVID world, it will be focused on offering reliable customer service and develop strategies that help people who are struggling with their electricity bills. The company has applied for a B Corporation accreditation. RE asserts that its customer support systems are automated and can handle multiple queries simultaneously. It plans to offer a weekly direct debit payment option. RE will use the investment to grow its business across different verticals.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£503,810
MyFirstUK is a car insurance platform for first time driver. It aims to offer young people the perfect cover at the right price and also provide them with all of the guidance they need to make an informed decision.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£61,920
Infinity Circle (IC) is a digital wealth creation platform that aims to create an ecosystem where wealth management meets social media in a way that is cyber secure, respects a user's privacy, and complies with the Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) rules. IC intends to vet and distribute the best-in-class products for each asset class on its platform that is planned to be partly automated and partly operated by specialists who can guide a user. IC asserts that its CEO Elisabeth Dana has worked with the likes of Barclays Private Wealth, handling average accounts of £50 million while its CTO, Ashley Adkins, is a coding expert who has put his talent at the service of the UK Government before starting his private practice. It will use 40% of the investment for technology innovation, 30% for upgrading operations, and 30% to market the platform's launch.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£335,390
Husky is the UK’s only open, SaaS platform for workplace pensions. For employers, the platform deals with legal and compliance burdens of auto-enrolment while helping reduce pension costs. For individuals and company directors, the app is instrumental in bringing profitable and responsible investments with the Husky for Everyone app. And for advisers and accountants, it ensures strong client relationships amidst transparency and efficiency. Close to 1.4 million employers & 22.6 million workers are affected by the UK’s automatic enrolment (AE) legislation. Within this market, a conservative estimate of fees charged on employees by pension providers is £2 billion a year; Husky aims to disrupt this market & is ready to scale. Its method of operation has led to it achieving important milestones. With more than 1000 firms onboarded, a 92% renewal rate, and an average annual fee of £438, Husky charges its onboarded firms (including Crowdcube) with monthly recurring fees laid out as part of a 3-year subscription model. With the funds received, the company aims to disrupt the relatively stagnant workplace pensions industry with innovative products and empower its customers.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£417,338
Equipsme is on a mission to democratise health insurance by making it affordable for businesses of all sizes. The company cites data arguing that there has been a 53% increase in National Health Service (NHS) treatment waiting lists since 2012 due to the low reach of health insurance by conventional insurance companies. It aims to change this scenario. Equipsme offers flexible fixed-price packages to companies wherein employees are allowed to upgrade and add family members to their plan as per their pleasure. Members can also speak to a General Physician (GP) 24/7, and, if necessary, be referred to a consultant for diagnosis and treatment through the company's proprietary app. The company was felicitated with the 'Best New Product' award by Cover Magazine Excellence Awards 2019. The company will use the investment to enhance its user experience, ensure its technology remains market-leading, and scale its marketing and customer service capability.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£286,096
Nextfin is an FCA approved aggregation and rating portal for equity and debt crowdfunding investments.
AIM is shrinking, legacy stock markets are too expensive to maintain and do not serve the requirements of SMEs, banks are closing branches, lending less and are paying little or no interest to investors. As a result of this, there is a huge growth in equity crowdfunding and P2P lending which has seen the launch of hundreds of alternative lenders & platforms that has created a new c.£3bn marketplace, expanding at 66% p.a. There is no single portal or trusted ratings index for investors to compare on a like for like basis and no secondary market to facilitate exits.
* NextFin is the new trading name of Business Agent Ltd
The solution
NextFin aggregates equity and debt crowdfunding investments to create the alternative finance marketplace. This makes it easy for investors and lenders to find and compare opportunities by presenting all investment offerings in one place. With the addition of a free of charge ratings service investors will be able to view ratings of every equity crowdfunding pitch, every P2P site, and every equity crowdfunding site. NextFin’s technology will constantly track these companies and investments providing the investor real-time intelligence on which to base investment decisions. The platforms and entrepreneurs will be self-promoting and marketing their ratings driving thousands of visitors a month to the NextFin site, in the same way, businesses refer their potential clients to Trip Advisor and Trustpilot. There is an estimated 10 million website/platform visitors per month across the whole of the alternative finance market. NextFin is targeting to direct 5% of this highly profiled traffic to its platform from which it will earn between £5-£8 per click from advertisers and partners. In addition, an in-house brokerage service also earns between 1%-6% commissions on loan placements. A future revenue stream (not featured in the financials) will be developed once visitor traffic reaches critical mass. This will see Nextfin being able to realise the full value of its captured ratings data and visitor traffic by launching a secondary market, which is estimated to be a £5bn marketplace.
NextFin is raising £500k at a pre-money valuation of £2M to: • Develop P2P and Equity site ratings• Expand the management, infrastructure and marketing resource• Increase visitor traffic to 6m a year via rating referrals
Owing to the size of the market and rapid growth of the industry, enterprise valuations in alternative finance are based on visitor traffic, market share and registered users. Recently published valuations of companies with visitor traffic of over 6m per year are in excess of £70m. NextFin is the market-leading aggregator and has first-mover advantage. It has the potential to exceed these valuations because it is the whole of the market aggregator and is currently the only ratings service provider as it grows to achieve 500,000 visitors p.m.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£274,057
Broker Compare have built a bespoke comparison tool, ranking brokers based on cost to individual investors. They have agreements in place with thisismoney.co.uk and the Investors Chronicle, and plan to expand their product and partner network.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£90,690
Recasher is a e-money based loyalty programme offering real cash back instantly. One app replaces hundreds of loyalty cards offering users significant savings on day to day items and providing merchants the information to make personalised promotions.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£153,200
