Carnot is an engineering company that is developing biofuel and hydrogen-powered Carnot engines with the aim of reducing global CO2 levels by 13%. The company asserts that metal engines, unable to withstand fuel combustion temperatures, waste one-third of fuel energy to cooling & have operating efficiencies of only 30%. Carnot argues that its engines can bring operating efficiencies up to 70%, halving fuel costs. It also intends to develop clean, secure, and affordable global off-grid energy solutions and provide disruptive technologies that are both commercially viable and environmentally friendly. Carnot was awarded a £157,000 Innovate UK Grant to develop an energy access solution in Sub-Saharan Africa. It was also awarded a place on OGTC Tech X accelerator, in partnership with organisations like British Petrol (BP), Equinor, and KPMG with a £100,000 funding. The company will use the investment to bump up the maximum theoretical engine efficiency to ~85%.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£307,911
Gravitricity is an energy technology company based in Edinburgh, London. Its patented technology is based on a simple principle: raising and lowering a heavy weight to store and release energy. The Gravitricity system suspends weights of 500 - 5000 tonnes in a deep shaft by several cables, each of which is engaged with a winch capable of lifting its share of the weight. Electrical power is then absorbed or generated by raising or lowering the weight. The technology has a 25+ year life with no cyclical degradation, has no parasitic loads, is cost-effective and can be installed anywhere including city-centres. The company has recently submitted its fifth patent application and has won a grant under InnovateUK's Energy Catalyst programme. It is working with winch partner Huisman Equipment BV and controls-partner ISC to build a 250kW Concept Demonstrator and design modular full-scale systems. With the funds received, Gravitricity will buffer for any COVID-related delay in energy requirements amidst the global economic downturn.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£775,000
Caldera is a heat battery company that seeks to institutionalise zero-carbon energy solutions for the masses. Its patented breakthrough, Warmstone heat battery, can store 100kWh of heat for a standard home for 24 hours. Caldera asserts that it takes renewable energy using a flexible green tariff with prices as low as 5p/kWh and stores it as heat, providing carbon-free hot water and heating via Warmstone. The company has raised over £1.5 million through grants and investment to date, installed its first pilot Warmstone product in a family home, established a manufacturing and R&D base, and acquired the support of an energy think tank, Energy Systems Catapult. It aspires to become a contender in the estimated £3.5 billion renewable energy storage market in the European Union (EU). The company is working with König Metall to build and sell Warmstone units via approved UK installers. Caldera will use the investment to install a small number of pilot units in trial homes in 2021 before a full commercial rollout in 2022.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£1,572,524
Perspective Pictures is a creative, digital-first video production company based in North London. The company asserts that existing video production companies produce good TV advertisements and long-form pieces for brands but fail to find an engaged online audience. PP asserts that its team of employees with an average age of 25, and in-house production crew and creatives allow it to produce a variety of video ads from a short snappy, subtitled Facebook ad to a long-form 22 minute YouTube series drawing in the target audience. The company sold over £200,000 worth of video content in the first 60 days of 2020. It has featured in news publications like The Evening Standard, Forbes, BA BusinessLife, Moneyweek, and Shortlist. PP will use the investment to make £2 million worth of video content per year, invest in team training and education to ensure that it can offer the best service/product to its clients, and help manage cash flow and unexpected situations.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£108,046
Quin is a mobile medical app that combines daily life experience with data from diabetes devices and phones and helps people decide how much insulin to take and when. They are on a mission to help people with insulin-treated diabetes make the best possible decisions through their app. The company have received a UK research and innovation grant. Apple has granted them insider access to their engineers and executives who are helping to get Quin to market, their app has a class I CE Mark, with two patents pending. With the investment, they will hire a product designer to enhance the user experience, achieve certification and compliance with new European Medical Device Regulations, develope B2B2C distribution partnerships and launch the Quin app in the UK and Europe in late 2020.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£691,497
Feed is a platform that automates digital advertising for musicians and creators by enabling them to grow an audience and build their businesses. The creator needs to connect their social media accounts to the Feed portal and set a budget. The portal will then create ads that reach new people and convert engaged audiences into loyal fans over time. The company asserts that existing ad generation platforms are too complex, time-consuming and expensive for creators. Feed argues that its portal caters to a variety of budgets, requires no marketing knowledge and takes minutes to get started. The beta platform is integrated with Facebook's & Instagram's ad network and has 500 creators on board. The company will use the investment to launch the paid version of Feed in Q4 2020.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£146,117
planarTECH is an engineering company founded in 2014 as a provider of process equipment for the growth and characterisation of graphene and other emerging 2D materials. Its core product line is the planarGROW Chemical Vapor (CVD) system. The company has the ability to deliver scalable production systems that allow lower-cost production of graphene in comparison to other options currently available in the market. Moreover, from 2014 to 2019, the company’s cumulative revenues exceeded £5 million. The company's products have been installed and used by faculties and students at prestigious universities like Stanford University (USA), IIT- Bombay (India), Deakin University (Australia), and many others. From the investment, the company will utilise 45% as working capital, 30% in Capital Expenditures (CAPEX), 15% in R&D and 10% in hiring additional staff.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£425,061
YurOn is a video platform that cultivates authentic interaction between prominent personalities and their fans. The portal allows people from different walks of life–drag queens, mountaineers, activists–thirty seconds to ignite a conversation, start an Ask Me Anything or co-create a skit. YurOn shuns away filters, anonymous commenting, vanity metrics or validation-driven algorithms and endeavours to bring to the public an unadulterated conversation between stars and their fans. The portal soft-launched in Q2 of 2020 and has seen over 5000 downloads, 2000 active users, and 32% of users retaining over a month. The company will use 80% of the investment to grow its tech team and cloud infrastructure, and 20% towards marketing and partnerships to accelerate growth.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£222,110
Carocell Bio is an early-stage Research and Design (R&D) company aiming to develop nanoparticle-based, novel peptide anti-inflammatories to treat atopic dermatitis/eczema (AD) and other serious inflammatory diseases. It argues that millions of people continue to be affected by debilitating skin ailments, which in turn, escalates the development of new pharmaceutical drugs. The company asserts that the anti-inflammatory therapeutics market will reach US$122.6 billion by 2025 from US$95.9 billion in 2019. The company aims to be a major contender in this market. Carocell Bio has also been awarded an Innovate UK grant of £390,874. The company is seeking £1 million in equity investment over the next 12 months to show that their compounds work in human tissue biopsies of several inflammatory diseases.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
Withheld
Pawprint is a behavioural change platform that is on a mission to fight climate change. The platform allows people to measure, understand and reduce their carbon footprint, and fight ‘climate change’ by giving people bite-sized chunks to focus on. It aims to be the middleman, helping brands reach and understand their audience by offering these brands personalised challenges to help their reduce carbon footprint. The market for behavioural change platforms is slowly gaining solid traction with established brands such as Fitbit, Strava, and Calm. Pawprint aims to capitalise on this collective concern and deliver services that help mitigate those concerns.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£352,440
