Gively is an online marketplace where users can give and get secondhand items for free. The secondhand clothing market will double in value to £50 billion annually by 2023, and the company finds itself as a suitable contender in this domain. They aim to lower greenhouse gas emissions and minimise landfill sites through its portal. The company has reached over 5,000 users, 70% of which came from unpaid channels. Gively won an SME (Small and medium enterprises) grant worth £10,000 of television advertising and has received rave reviews from its users through the App Store, social media, and in person. They will use 50% of the investment for marketing purposes, 25% for technology up-gradation, and 25% for hiring human resources.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£105,207
pluumo makes sustainable thermal packaging material from waste feathers. The company asserts that fresh food deliveries need thermal packaging to keep ingredients frozen and prevent spoilage. pluumo claims that plastics such as Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) are used in this process, leading to 141,000 tons of plastic waste generated in the EU in 2019. pluumo asserts that its patent-pending material matches the performance of EPS, keeping items chilled for up to 40 hours. The company has secured £450,000 in grants/awards, including £140,000 via InnovateUK. It aims to be a contender in the $137 billion online food delivery industry. pluumo argues that 74% of consumers would pay more for green packaging, with e-commerce sustainable packaging predicted to be worth $65 billion by 2023. The company will use the investment to scale production and expand into the wider UK market.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£511,325
envoPAP is a company that specialises in manufacturing printing and packaging materials from agricultural waste. Started in 2015, the company has achieved £7.3 million in revenues across 45 countries. The European packaging market is valued at over £100 billion and the European Union (EU)are looking to ban some single-use plastic products with effect from 2021, envoPAP aims to capitalise on these developments. The year 2019 saw envoPAP introducing its product 'envoBarrier’- a material resistant to oil, water, and grease which won the 'Packaging Innovation of the Year' at the Business Green Technology Awards. In 2020, envoPAP became a certified B Corporation rendering it a business that balances purpose and profit. The investment will be used to protect its Intellectual Property (IP) and expand its team.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£381,128
WRAP is a co-working hub for families to work, rest and play. The company argues that COVID-19 has led to the need for a space where work and leisure intersect. WRAP's premises consist of an upstairs section having shared and private offices. The downstairs section consists of a café, nursery and play centre. The company aims to be a carbon-neutral entity by implementing methods like using reusable nappies in the nursery to channelling 100% renewable energy system throughout the building soon. The company has gained support from cornerstone investors such as Penny Jones, Dave Stewart, and Ian Wood, who have experience in overseeing property and co-working facilities. WRAP will use 94% of the investment for refurbishing its building premises, 2.3% in marketing, 1% to setup digital tools such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM), 2% for legal assistance, and the remaining for getting regulatory approvals from Ofsted UK.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£321,064
HireHand is a VC-backed platform connecting people and businesses. The company has helped more than 2000 people in earning £3M by giving valuable support to 750 businesses owners in the UK. It has 750 businesses on its platform and it has received a 4.5-star quality rating from businesses. HireHand aims to provide people with stability and flexibility instead of under-employment and insecurity. It has been featured in the Financial Times media platform. HireHand has received funding from Mustard Seed Impact VC. With the proceeds, the company will hire additional technical talent and launch in New York (food retail) and London construction (scaffolding).
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£1,011,505
Found, as the name suggests, aims to become the go-to community across the UK for lost properties, offering a better and simpler way for the public to get their property back. The company is noted by Insurance Post as the 'Top 6 insurtechs to watch for 2020.' It has also won the Start-Up Guernsey Angel Pitch Event sponsored by Barclays. Found offers multiple potential revenue streams (insurance, software subscriptions, SaaS and analysing data) with both B2B and B2C channels. Found will employ 30% of the proceeds, in product development, 25% in team development, 10% for the insurance product, 10% in operations, and 25% for its launch in Bristol and UK wide BD.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£254,372
Almond provides businesses and consumers with a method to understand their carbon footprint and use the company's proprietary offset tools to become carbon neutral. Consumers can earn Almond Tokens when purchasing products from Almond's partnering sustainable brands. The Almond Tokens can be spent on their website The Almond certification label on products enables them to demonstrate their commitment to protecting the environment, consumer health and building a better society for all. The core idea is to build a market that's geared towards sourcing and selling sustainable products. The green economy market is worth $4 trillion. The offset market was $300 million in 2018, having grown over 140-fold in 10 years. Almond seeks to be a market leader in this domain. It has also partnered with reputed institutions such as the World Wildlife Fund, and the Stockholm Environment Institute (carbon analytics). With the investment, the company aims to further the popularity of its existing Almond App and have more people join its ecosystem.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£522,540
Helpr Technologies has built a platform to help the elderly and improve their lives. Helpr plans to improve the social and domestic care market by making it better for clients and carers. The number of care visits the company delivers has grown by over 300% in 16 months. With the proceeds, the company plans to build upon its success by developing the brand with extra functionality in the platform, and explore numerous models to quickly widen its geography.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£61,020
Launched in 2015, Gone West plans to disrupt the commercial forestry sector by adopting regenrative forestry systems in place of traditional ones, thereby creating environmental and social benefits. The company has planted millions of trees and has become pretty good at it. The company's product development team is engineering solutions for environmental problems, such as its Green Light app. The company's business model is structured to provide diverse yet interconnected revenue streams. Gone West has been self-funded to this date with increasing year-on-year revenue growth since launch. With the proceeds, the company will invest 30% for operations, 20% for Marketing, 5% for Business Innovation, 20% for Forestry Services, 15% for Product development, 10% for Plant and Protect.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£159,300
Secret Cinema (SC) is an entertainment company that creates immersive shows at venues across London, including interactive performances in purpose-built sets. The company has produced 50+ titles and sold one million tickets to date, with its biggest shows selling over 100,000 tickets each. SC was the brainchild of noted creative director Fabien Riggall who envisioned taking cinematic experiences to the next level. The company asserts that it has a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 78. It held a screening of James Bond's 'Casino Royale' in Shanghai and has worked with Netflix to adapt its 'Stranger Things' show for a Los Angeles screening in 2020, reaching a US audience of over 300,000. The company will use the investment to support its growth, host its most popular slate of shows, collaborate on its first gaming title with a renowned gaming publisher, and sign a digital production with a major studio, based on a popular film franchise.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£4,849,449
