Luas Diagnostics (LD) aims to develop and market easy-to-use, rapid and accurate diagnostics tests with the aim of deploying these tests in remote settings away from centralised testing laboratories. The company has signed an exclusive distribution agreement with Chembio Diagnostics Systems (CDS) in the USA to market its Covid-19 antibody and antigen tests in the UK and Ireland. It has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the University of Birmingham to develop saliva-based, rapid Covid-19 tests. LD is also working on coming up with a therapeutic drug monitoring system based on the same technology used worldwide to test people with diabetes for glucose levels in the blood. The company is developing the system so that it can be used at home, in pharmacies or GP surgery. The first product will test for Theophylline which is used to treat Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). LD will use the investment to grow its business across different verticals.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£326,190
Orbital Marine Power aims to harness the energy flowing in tidal streams and rivers through its award-winning tidal turbines. Orbital's O2 turbine is designed to deliver enough power for up to 2,000 homes. The company's vision is to focus on providing turbines and services into a future £20 billion per annum utility-scale global market for clean and predictable power from tidal streams. Orbital is currently providing £15 million of funded design projects to refine its IP protected low carbon tidal technology in readiness to scale up and play its part in meeting the ever-increasing demand for clean power. It will use the investment to grow its business across different verticals.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£2,595,231
Toraphene is an environmental technology company that aims to eliminate plastic waste. It has released with its product, Toraphene, to solve this crisis. It claims that Toraphene is a biodegradable, compostable and commercially-viable plastic packaging substitute for conventional plastic. The company asserts that its product is biodegradable even in the ocean, and has been developed using graphene technology. It is focussed on eliminating carrier bags and food containers in its first-round which account for 23% of marine waste. It aims to be a segment leader in the projected $25.4 billion biodegradable plastic industry by 2026. The company will use the investment to make Toraphene accessible to companies worldwide and make plastic packaging obsolete.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£1,000,000
Imagen is a company that has developed an automated, sophisticated algorithmic technique, PredictRx, to find the right treatment for any cancer type. Imagen collects the cancer samples from a patient, grows it in its specialised growth medium, and then subjects the medium to an automated fluorescence microscopy screening to measure drug responses on live tumour cells. The company's AI-powered biobank of over 150,000 drug responses then gives the best possible cancer treatment options, allowing the company to expand in the pharmaceutical sector by satisfying its unmet demand for patient-derived cancer models. Imgen requires investment to scale its infrastructure to create the world's leading 'Biobank' of clinically relevant patient-derived cancer models whilst building the most comprehensive big data set available in cancer research.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£1,036,436
Span Health is a digital care platform that aims to help people avoid lifestyle-induced diseases, symptoms, medication, and complications. The company has helped more than 10,000 people to live a better and longer life. Span Health's easy-to-use mobile application allows patients to chat with clinicians, order blood tests at home, book video consultations, and see results in the application itself. Moreover, in 2019, the company agreed on a National Health Service (NHS) pilot test for 100 patients in collaboration with the National Institute of Health Research in North West London. Span Health will use the investment to provide employees with blood tests to screen for health risk factors and recover from detected illness safely and sustainably, improve its platform data insights, prediction and machine learning to better structure the clinician's processes, and further reduce its operational costs.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£134,892
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
Pharmseal is a software company that aims to disrupt clinical trial management. The company claims that companies typically use multiple applications for managing clinical trials from one or more vendors. This increases cost and complexity. Pharmaseal asserts that its cloud Business-2-Business (B2B) platform, Engility, simplifies control by providing a single management portal. The platform allows information to be centralised and accessed from a single platform. Pharmaseal claims that Engility will allow companies to save cost and time and enable them to bring life-saving drugs to market faster. The company will utilise 31% of the investment for commercialisation and marketing, 49% for product development, 13% for IT infrastructure, and 7% for administrative/legal/miscellaneous activities.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£532,311
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
