Zoom 1hr is a hyperlocal last-mile delivery service delivering food, convenience and retail goods within one hour. The company is currently operating in West Midlands, Wales, and bordering English counties. It aims to become a contender in the online food delivery market that is projected to reach over £5 billion in 2021. Zoom 1hr has witnessed 70,000 app downloads, processed over 280,000 orders through its platform, and gained an annual turnover of £665,000 in 2019-2020 at an order growth rate of 108%. Zoom 1hr argues that its list of partners consists of local, national and international stores including Subway and KFC. It has also secured a contract with Co-Op to be its third national last-mile delivery partner, currently servicing 61 stores. The company will use the investment for New Area Mobilisation (NAM), product and website development, key hires, and team expansion.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£595,084
Wedding Planner is an online wedding-planning marketplace that provides an easy way to plan and book a wedding. Around 20,000 couples are using this platform to plan their dream weddings. Besides being a pre-COVID profitable business in the UK, it is the UK's number one ranked site for 'Wedding Planner' as per Google. The website has been created by combining a digital wedding booking system, curated venues, planning tools, and supplier search options. The platform generates 8,500+ leads for venues and suppliers per quarter and has a registered base of 3,000+ venues and other suppliers. With the investment, the company will use 25% to update their booking system catering to couples and suppliers, 12% in creating new and tested standardised contract templates between the couple and the supplier, 13% in developing a partnership with a wedding insurance provider, 30% as substitution funds for supplier and venue subscriptions frozen during COVID-19, 13% in continuing the platform's growth in Sweden, and 7% in costs associated with fund-raising.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£25,010
JiveBird allows users to create and send a greetings package that consists of a personal voice message, music, eCard, a photo or selfie, and a gift to their loved ones or acquaintances. The company asserts that its package can be sent at the last minute or in advance. Jivebird claims that for the millions of people who send greetings and gifts every year, its portal provides a personal, cheaper, and convenient way to send greetings. Jivebird argues that it has no direct competitors. Its exit strategy is to sell the company when it achieves the growth metrics in the business plan, projected to be within five years of consumer launch.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
Withheld
GENEROUS APE is an online shopping destination for the style-led conscious shopper. The company asserts that the word 'APE' is an acronym for 'Animal, People and Environment' and is targeted towards sustainable shopping. GENEROUS APE argues that it has completed eight weeks of beta-testing with an average of 450 visitors showing interest in its website and 47.62% being returning customers. The company asserts that the average basket value was £89 with partnerships signed with 80 style-led sustainable brands. GENEROUS APE onboarded 'DHL GO GREEN' as its primary delivery associate and partnered with World Land Trust on the 'Buy an Acre' scheme to facilitate wildlife protection in perpetuity. The company will use the investment for optimising marketing, boost organic growth channels and paid media, improve the consumer experience, and develop a personalised dashboard for each customer.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£208,525
Faizpay is a financial technology entity that provides a cost-effective alternative to card payments in-store and online. The company facilitates account-to-account payments from a consumer to a merchant via 'Open Banking' as per the European Revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2) and bespoke direct Application Programming Interface (APIs) with financial institutions, when available. It asserts that their online tool provides seamless integration with a retailer’s e-commerce system including plug-ins and Software Development Kit (SDKs) for WordPress, Android and iOS. FaizPay states it also allows merchants to offer first-time and regular discounts that automatically apply to transactions. The company has 71 fully registered merchants with 95 registered terminals. FaizPay has onboarded the nine biggest UK banks and signed notable entities like Monzo, Revolut and Starling. The company will use the investment to grow its team, hire additional tech development and sales personnel, apply for an e-money license in the UK, and seek relevant financial authorisation to provide its services in the European Union (EU).
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£536,714
easyHire is a cloud-based technology platform that deals in event and construction equipment rentals. It possesses over 3 million pieces of inventory. easyHire is operating in the £23 billion equipment rental industry in Europe and aims to be the category leader in it. The company raised £1.5 million from leading investors and built a revenue-generating Software as a Service (SaaS) platform. It is backed by renowned entrepreneurs Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou and Fabio Cannavale, as well as, venture capital firm Pilabs. The company owns brand exclusivity for the easyToolhire and easyEventhire franchises across 30 territories. It continued to strengthen its business during the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy. easyHire will use the investment to open up new markets, invest in product development, and boost its marketing initiatives.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£520,161
Strowz is an innovative, all-in-one financial lifestyle App that allows users to create multiple savings buckets earning 2% interest, link bank accounts and credit cards, invest in high growth funds, and set up customised round-ups. The Strowz App combines technology, finance, lifestyle and helps users save and invest intuitively. As of May 2020, Strowz savers have targeted over £3.6 million across 260+ savings buckets. The company also won the 'Best Programmatic Technology For Trading Award' for three consecutive years in 2017, 2018, and 2019 from WSL and Fund Technology awards. The company's growth strategy will include 'Word Of Mouth' referrals, social media & digital ads, strategic partnerships, amongst others. The company will use the investment funds to increase growth, focus on product development, and launch Strowz in Canada and the US.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£275,009
Unifi is a social community app designed by university students for university students. The app allows students to discover one another, connect, debate, find local work and interact in the campus marketplace. Unifi aims to create micro-communities across campuses. The company aims to solve the problem of isolation and lack of inclusion on university campuses, which have populations of anywhere between 20-40,000 students. The company conducted surveys amongst 1,000+ student participants where over 85% ultimately responded that they would use Unifi. They will use 40% of the investment for marketing expenses, 21.5% for paying staff, 25% for app development, 11% as working capital, and 2.5% as administrative costs.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£243,038
Elfin Market is an FCA authorised peer-to-peer lending platform offering fair and affordable alternative to credit cards. There are over 60 million credit cards in the UK and the outstanding credit card debt amounts to £72 billion. The company plans to disrupt the credit card market by making financial services simpler and cheaper for everyone through technology and innovation. Elfin Market has already launched the beta version of their product and has achieved 60% monthly growth since its launch in September 2019. With the proceeds, the company will hire two developers to further build up in-house capabilities and for the smooth working capital of the business.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£804,890
MiiCARE is a company that provides AI-based in-home companionship & health support for the elderly. miiCARE provides an 18-month product validation process with the NHS and the elderly. Its innovation miiCUBE is a cloud-based assistive technology solution that can detect an emergency and inform a designated responder. miiCARE already has 250 prospective clients who have already expressed interest to purchase the product. The company was accepted for the 'Microsoft for Startups' program in 2019 and Microsoft's 'AI for Good' acceleration cohort in 2020. The company will utilise the investments to create an emergency stock to support future orders, fulfill orders for clients, strengthen its team, and create a small inventory for orders.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£354,632
