Fairer Finance (FF) is a consultancy launched in 2014, on a mission to become the UK's most trusted provider of consumer financial services ratings. FF makes money through four key channels namely, licensing access to its data and insights, selling endorsements to those who do well in its ratings, sponsored research that helps improve the financial services market, and helping firms do better for their customers. FF earned £170,000 worth of revenues in its latest quarter, had its ratings published on thetimes.co.uk, which got 35 million views/week and onboarded noted entity, Lloyds Bank, that uses FF's data insights. The company aims to expand into more banking and insurance sectors and grow its consumer presence, helping it to strike deals with comparison sites and sign up more companies for its Insight services. The company will use the investment to expand its campaigning work and create a fairer market for consumers.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£291,899
SKOOT is a platform that connects friends who need lifts or errands, with friends who can help. The app auto-calculates fares for lifts taken and splits the costs. It also permits users to organise, request and arrange errands or simple favours from friends for free or a £5 tip. SKOOT claims to be the only carbon negative green navigation app for drivers. The company argues that it has also taken up the '1 Million Tree Challenge' and plants a tree for every journey on the platform. SKOOT is live on the Apple App Store and Google Playstore, with more than 18,000 users. It aims to become a contender in the ride-hailing industry that is worth $85.8 billion. SKOOT states it has raised £3.1 million from investors, won £75,000 from Innovate UK, and completed over 1,200 tasks to date using its 'Errands' feature launched during the COVID-19 pandemic. SKOOT states they will use the investment to extend its product, create more revenue streams and increase user activation across the EU, USA, Australia and Canada by early 2022.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£409,913
8dates is a dating recommendation engine and marketplace for new couples. The company's app uses machine learning to know what couples want when they first meet and shows them upcoming events by partner affiliates that they can engage in as per their interest. 8dates affiliate partners include OpenTable and Eventbrite. The company has also been granted the Facebook Dating License for advertising. It will use the investment to localise its offerings across key markets in the UK and Europe and grow its affiliate partnership program by adding more events. They will also develop the Android version of its application, acquire patents, copyrights, and IP expansion for its trademarks, app development, and UI/UX updates, and boost marketing and customer acquisition via Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, Spotify, and Pandora.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£357,242
Emission Solutions (EMSOL) empowers organisations to take everyday steps to reduce emissions through their real-time emission monitoring and analytics system. EMSOL's open framework platform is built with networks of sensors like air and noise pollution, vehicle tracking, and working with any asset tags and emission sensors which enables EMSOL to perform real-time measurements with location tags and calibrated sensors. Data from these platforms are easily shared on dashboards, through notifications and gives detailed real-time data on urban noise, air quality, and vehicle pollution. To date, EMSOL won Rushlight Environmental Analysis Award, achieve yearly income targets, rated 5th place in the national PowerUp Index and 4th in the London and South East region. Moreover, EMSOL also won a fully funded project sponsored by DFT to deploy EMSOL technology into the rail sector. The company will use the funds to expand its customer base and increase the number of deployment sites.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£316,884
The Fertility Circle (TFC) aspires to become the go-to channel for one in six couples that are struggling to conceive. It aims to help them via its app that consists of four core features namely, community guidance, expert help, knowledge sources, and holistic support channels. The company aims to become a contender in the fertility market that is projected to hit $41 billion by 2026. TFC asserts that it is supported by notable entities like Virgin Startup, FemTech Lab, and 'M' accelerators. TFC has featured in media entities like Grazia, Thomson Reuters, and Thrive Global and was included in Apple's ‘Hot Right Now' list being ranked second for 'Fertility Support' in the App Store. The company has witnessed a 40% Month-on-Month (MoM) user growth, over 6,000+ app downloads in 6 months, and a social community presence of 5,000 followers to date. TFC will use the investment to pilot with six leading fertility clinics to offer the application to their patients.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£391,372
Innovate Recycle (IR) is a company that aims to reduce carbon emissions from burning discarded carpets. It asserts that only 2% of the 400,000 tonnes of discarded carpets in the UK is recycled, with the rest going into a landfill or being incinerated. IR further points out that burning waste carpet leads to an estimated CO2 impact of £16 million per annum in the UK. It wants to solve this crisis. IR is building a new carpet recycling plant in Northamptonshire that would be able to recycle carpets into reusable materials. They have already received grant funding of up to £2.35 million. IR claims that a single production line in the plant, at full capacity, can recycle up to 20,000 tonnes each year and generate 12,600 tonnes of polypropylene pellets. It will use the investment to expand to a second production line by Year 4 at the same facility.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£2,650,000
The Pension Lab offers an interative platform for employees and individuals, helping them reconnect and engage with their pensions. Its mission is to provide the customers with better knowledge of pensions and promote long-term financial decision making. The company has reached the finals of 'Pitchfest' competition held at the NEC as a component of “Venturefest”, and it is also a finalist in the “Innovation in Business” category. Some of the best Fintech solutions providers and pension services such as Yodlee and Origo are in partnership with the Pension Lab. With the proceeds, the company will develop its working capital, infrastructure development, and customer acquisition.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£38,024
Thyngs is a touch-free instant payment platform for businesses and charities. It has around 20 active re-seller partners for new sectors and markets. The company is working with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) as part of its raise programme and actively engaging with several Series A Venture Capitalist (VC) funds intending to raise £4-5 million in late 2021 to scale its business. Thyngs aggregates various payment partners including PayPal, Worldpay, Apple Pay and Google Pay. The company was the cashless donation platform for 210,000 fundraising events for Macmillan's 'World's Biggest Coffee Morning', which raised £27 million in 2019. Many reputed organisations such as Warner Bros, Royal British Legion, Wasabi, National Geographic, and ANZ Bank are working with Thyngs. The company will use the investment to enhance its marketing campaign, bolster its sales team, work on data security and integrations on its platform, and expand the account management team to boost its business.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£329,591
TIME-TO-FIND is a reverse marketplace for luxury Swiss watches that helps customers locate the watch they want from the company's network of brand authorised stockists. The company's complimentary service allows customers to communicate with and compare authorised retailers without any commitment with a simple sign-up process. When the customer is ready to transact, they can choose TIME-TO-FIND's bespoke concierge service to hand-deliver their desired watch to their doorstep. Customers can also opt for the secure courier service from their chosen authorised stockist to their nominated delivery address. TIME-TO-FIND garnered £80,000 worth of sales at retail value in its pilot period from August to December 2019 with zero returns. TIME-TO-FIND will use the investment to create marketing and PR campaigns to boost sales, increase site visits to 500,000 within 2021-2022, improve its website's user experience, and hire key personnel.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£281,731
Uhive is a cryptocurrency-powered social network that aims to foster peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions, interest-based advertising, and the sale of in-app digital assets to maintain user privacy on its portal. The company argues that current social networks flood users' feeds with hidden agendas auctioning off their data to the highest bidder. Uhive intends to change this. It asserts that its content-discovery model allows users to choose and fine-tune the content they see by selecting 26 different interests. Content creators can use Uhive's paywall feature to earn, rewarding quality posts with cryptocurrency payments. The company's app consists of an advanced AI and recommendation engine, crypto wallet, and media streaming, to name a few. Uhive has onboarded 182,000 users and witnessed 5 million posts created by users on its platform. It will use 23% of the investment for operations, 55% for product development, 21% for marketing, and 1% for legal costs.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£815,530
