Square Mile Farms (SMF) is a company that installs innovative and productive vertical farms in a workplace to engage employees and help businesses create a culture of healthy, low-impact living. Its 'Office Farming' model creates green spaces for engagement and collaboration. In 2019, it was invited to build a vertical farm in Paddington Central by British Land, one of UK’s largest landowners. The setup now acts as a hub for the company's office farm installations and a base from which it can conduct Research and Development (R&D). SMF's customers include Grosvenor Group Limited and Vodafone. Moreover, the company has been covered by media platforms such as BBC One and BBC Radio. It will use 45% of the investment for sales and business development, 15% for design and technology up-gradation, 15% for raising its profile and increasing brand awareness, and 25% for operations.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£504,118
Ortharize is a business travel platform that enables companies to cut their travel bills by rewarding their employees for spending less on flights, hotels and trains. With a proven business model, the company is confident that their innovative incentives platform coupled with competitive customer pricing will lead to rapid growth. They are in talks with Expenses Software Company to rollout to 1000+ customers. Moreover, through its partnership with Travel & Transport, Ortharize also has access to global airline and hotel inventory with pre-negotiated discounts and commission from launch. The company is planning to exit within 5 years and expect this to be through a trade sale.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£435,360
The Landsite is the UK's first online property portal that connects various entities within the property industry such as developers, legal services, insurance advisors and architects, to one another, simplifying the process of finding and buying a property. By registering with The Landsite, a business/professional can list their business as operating in a specific region of the country and appear against all property searches that take place in that same region. The user then needs to put in their postcode or address and can then access properties within that region, as well as, seek available professional guidance to zero in upon a potential purchase. The platform also has an insights page that aims to become a recruitment, training and educational hub for the property industry. The company will use the investment to grow its business across different verticals.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
Withheld
Your Favourite Teacher (YFT) is a General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) supported online teaching and learning platform that offers students access to high quality and engaging courses. The portal allows students, particularly disadvantaged ones, to navigate through subject areas and courses. Lessons take place through videos, interactive quizzes, development resources, and tested via exam practice sessions. The platform has a pupil dashboard where students can track their progress and celebrate their achievements. In the UK, schools are spending c.£0.9 billion on EdTech per annum. The Covid-19 lockdown is expected to boost the demand for e-learning platforms. YFT offers more than 50 published courses (15 more in production) covering English, English Literature, Maths, and Sciences etc. It has won multiple customers including secondary schools, alternative provision sites and sports academies (including Premier League Football clubs like Manchester United and Arsenal). YFT is seeking an investment of £550,000 to further the growth and reach of the company.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
Withheld
Creative Hub is a fast-growing cloud software platform for creative people to store, share files, and collaborate on projects. The collaboration tools also allow users to chat in real-time, and add comments on images, allowing creative teams to work faster and deliver better results. Creative Hub enables users to order professional art & photographic prints, or physical 3D prints, which are produced at its print production facilities in London(UK) and Dusseldorf (Germany). The platform currently has 40,000 active users which are growing day by day. With the investment, the company will drive growth through marketing and launch its New York production facility.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£286,992
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
Uni Compare is a cross-platform student to university marketplace that acts as an enabler for undergraduate, postgraduate and international students. The company is targeting a £35 billion+ course advisor market. It displays university statistics, student reviews, and personalised choices to help students decide which course to choose when applying to university. Uni Compare raised £250,000 from Seedrs in 2018 and has witnessed 189,143 student registrations till date. It is now working with more than 14 partnered universities to create a new product line suited to connect postgraduate students with universities that are offering postgraduate courses. Uni Compare will use the investment to open up new markets, invest in scaling current revenue streams, and supercharge the business to meet client demand.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£248,476
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
