Two Drifters Distillery (TDD) is one of the very few British distilleries that makes rum from raw ingredients, rather than importing and flavouring it. It has worked with Climeworks Direct Air Capture technology to remove CO2 from its products. The company's technique won admirers leading to a boost in sales. Since its launch in 2019, TDD converted existing equipment to increase capacity from 80 bottles per week to an estimated 1800 per week. It has also secured contracts from prominent entities including John Lewis (national and online), Exeter Chiefs Rum and Virgin Wines. The company has an active social media community with 10,000+ followers and also conducts weekly distillery tours that see full attendance from its customers. TDD has also received press coverage from media houses including The BBC, The Telegraph and The Independent. It will use the investment to grow its sales and showcase its product at retail outlets, and bring to the masses sustainably-made British products.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£286,340
The Wine List (WL) gives confidence to wine lovers through a home wine course. The company argues that 20% of the UK's wine drinkers fall into a cohort that is actively engaged, spend at the higher end of the market, and frequently drink from a variety of sources. But less than 20,000 people don't have the requisite knowledge about different wine styles and tastes. WL aims to change this scenario by offering a home wine course to customers where alongside their wine lessons, they also get two bottles of wine to practice their skills on. The company has shipped 20,000+ bottles of wine and witnessed revenues of £298,000 in April-October 2020. WL is also building a digital content platform that will offer best in class video lessons, with learning quizzes to reinforce knowledge. The company has featured in Metro, Evening Standard, and Courier. It will use the investment to increase content production, wine delivery and scale into 2021.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£505,494
In My Kitchen is a platform that aims to bring together a network of professional and semi-professional chefs to sell their signature dishes and recipes online. The platform was founded in July 2020. In My Kitchen asserts that its business model holds precedence in a time where takeaways have grown in popularity in the UK because of COVID-19. It gives many chefs who have become unemployed or have fewer shifts for developing their creativity and skills whilst allowing them to earn through the gig-economy. The company has a network of more than 70 chefs across London, with backgrounds across a range of cuisines. With the investment received, the company will develop its team and company infrastructure.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
Withheld
Established by a team from a Michelin star restaurant, The Gaff is a small plate restaurant offering food in contemporary, comfortable, and relaxed surroundings. The first restaurant was opened in May 2019 and aspires for a Michelin Accreditation. The concept of small plate menus was the fourth biggest restaurant concept trend of 2019 which Gaff wants to capture. Gaff has been reviewed in The Good Food Guide 2020 and mentions by prominent food bloggers such as Kavita Favelle. They have also received good customer ratings with over 87% 5-star rating on Res Diary and a 75% rating on TripAdvisor. The funds raised will be utilised to open a second restaurant in Bath and three more around the UK.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£71,950
Andersen fills the gap by producing intelligent, strong and customizable charging points that can be happily used by customers at home. It has proved itself as a premium provider in the rapidly growing electric vehicle home charger market. The company has witnessed an increase in growth by 10x in 2018 and a third of all sales in the last three months. Andersen has been featured in The Times, BBC London and much more famous press. The company has received 5* on Google review and 'Great' on Trustpilot. It will be using funds to scale up the production and accelerate the growth.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£588,560
Callaly is the UK’s first female care B-Corp that delivers subscription-based organic cotton period products. The company has invented and patented the 'Tampliner', a combination of an organic cotton tampon with a soft mini-liner for built-in leak protection, with a clean insertion and removal, and no hard plastic applicator. It is multi-patented in 30 countries. The company has developed bespoke robotic machinery to automate production at a UK facility. In a £26 billion global femcare market, Callaly claims that its potential tampliner market would constitute 2% to 4% by 2024. The company has received rave reviews from magazines such as Cosmopolitan and Grazia. Callaly plans to begin sales in Europe in the third quarter of 2020 followed by sales in the US and Asia in 2021.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£1,704,460
Perkier is the UK’s fastest growing healthy snack bar brand. It asserts that its bars are 100% plant based, contain 60% less sugar, and are free from gluten and palm oil. Perkier aspires to dominate the global snack bar market that is worth $22 billion. The company claims that its products are distributed in every Sainsbury’s supermarket, in over 450 Morrisons stores and over 400 ASDA stores. It further points out that it is listed in major foodservice companies including Compass, Brakes and Bidfood. The company has over 55,000 followers across social media, and a brand ambassador program including team GB Olympians reaching 1.6 million people. Perkier states it will use the investment to expand its team, increase digital marketing, and invest in innovation.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£811,695
The Cheeky Panda (TCP) is a B Corp that offers a range of sustainable bamboo tissue and hygiene products available across Europe, the USA, China, and the Middle East. It asserts that its products are on the shelves of some of the World's top retailers including, Waitrose, Boots, MonoPrix and Carrefour. The company has sold over 12 million products across 25 countries and aims to become a contender in the overall hygiene market that is valued at over $200 billion a year. TCP featured in Sunday Times 'Fast Track – 'Ones to Watch' list, won Ocados rising stars best plant-based product in 2021, and launched with Waitrose in over 200 stores. TCP will use the investment to strengthen its management team in the run-up to IPO, focus on marketing and brand awareness to grow D2C sales, and oversee product launches with major retailers.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£2,400,550
NGX is a nutrition company that claims to have made the world’s first genetically personalised nutrition-shake, backed by nutritionists and scientists. The company is in the process of filing a patent for its product. It asserts that recommended food guidelines are based on population averages that are generic and not suitable for achieving optimum physical, mental fitness and health. NGX claims that its customer-specific products are trustworthy as they are made based on a DNA Nutrition Test (DNT) that is unique to a person. The company is operating in the $87 billion fitness market and aims to be a major contender. NGX has sold 30,000 NGX meals since its launch in 2020, collected data on over 5,000 genetic variations, and created proprietary gene-nutrition matching algorithms. It was a finalist in the 2019 British Business Awards (Health & Wellness) and has featured in publications like Glamour, Men's/Women's Health amongst others. The company will use the investment to support customer acquisition activities, team expansion, product supply, and brand partnerships deals.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£294,934
Occuity seeks to develop revolutionary non-invasive screening and monitoring devices for chronic diseases like diabetes and Alzheimer's. It argues that its device safely shines a low power beam of light into the eye and then collects and analyses the return signal to accurately measure structures within the eye and detect changes associated with the onset of the aforementioned diseases. Occuity is targeting three distinct markets, namely Ophthalmology, Disease Screening and Disease Monitoring, which is worth an estimated $35 billion per year. It claims that its 'Occuity Indigo' product enables earlier detection of diabetes and provides a non-contacting, pain-free glucose monitor. Occuity was awarded over £1.5 million as part of the Innovate UK grant for the development of technology within Occuity Indigo. It has also signed a partnership with one of the UK's leading ophthalmic distributors, Birmingham Optical, to distribute its PM1 pachymeter device. It states it will use 42% of the investment towards Research and Development (R&D), 23% towards sales and marketing, 20% towards management and finance, 9% towards managing CAPEX and NRE, and 6% towards paying fees.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£2,854,857
