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
One Year No Beer (OYNB) is a community support platform that helps people change their relationship with alcohol. It does this by allowing its users to choose a plan from the company's subscription-based models that consist of a 28-day, 90-day, and 365-day challenge to stay away from alcohol. The platform has empowered 70,000+ people in 90 countries through its challenges. Excess alcohol consumption leads to 3 million deaths per year and costs up to £59 billion to the UK economy alone. OYNB aims to resolve this crisis through its platform. For its efforts, the platform has been mentioned in publications such as the BBC, ITV, Metro, and Daily Telegraph. It also has an online presence of 130,000+ Facebook and 50,000+ Instagram followers. The company will use 42% of the investment to hire personnel, 33% for technology and product builds, and 25% as overhead costs.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£1,757,111
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
WRAP is a co-working hub for families to work, rest and play. The company argues that COVID-19 has led to the need for a space where work and leisure intersect. WRAP's premises consist of an upstairs section having shared and private offices. The downstairs section consists of a café, nursery and play centre. The company aims to be a carbon-neutral entity by implementing methods like using reusable nappies in the nursery to channelling 100% renewable energy system throughout the building soon. The company has gained support from cornerstone investors such as Penny Jones, Dave Stewart, and Ian Wood, who have experience in overseeing property and co-working facilities. WRAP will use 94% of the investment for refurbishing its building premises, 2.3% in marketing, 1% to setup digital tools such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM), 2% for legal assistance, and the remaining for getting regulatory approvals from Ofsted UK.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£321,064
HireHand is a VC-backed platform connecting people and businesses. The company has helped more than 2000 people in earning £3M by giving valuable support to 750 businesses owners in the UK. It has 750 businesses on its platform and it has received a 4.5-star quality rating from businesses. HireHand aims to provide people with stability and flexibility instead of under-employment and insecurity. It has been featured in the Financial Times media platform. HireHand has received funding from Mustard Seed Impact VC. With the proceeds, the company will hire additional technical talent and launch in New York (food retail) and London construction (scaffolding).
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£1,011,505
Found, as the name suggests, aims to become the go-to community across the UK for lost properties, offering a better and simpler way for the public to get their property back. The company is noted by Insurance Post as the 'Top 6 insurtechs to watch for 2020.' It has also won the Start-Up Guernsey Angel Pitch Event sponsored by Barclays. Found offers multiple potential revenue streams (insurance, software subscriptions, SaaS and analysing data) with both B2B and B2C channels. Found will employ 30% of the proceeds, in product development, 25% in team development, 10% for the insurance product, 10% in operations, and 25% for its launch in Bristol and UK wide BD.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£254,372
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
One Year No Beer (OYNB) is a community support platform that helps people change their relationship with alcohol. It argues that despite drinking being a part and parcel of most work, social and family gatherings, excess drinking leads to 3 million deaths per year, causes 5.1% of all diseases and costs £52 billion to the UK economy alone. OYNB intends to change this by helping customers choose a plan from its subscription-based models that consist of a 28-day, 90-day and 365-day challenge to stay away from alcohol. The platform has empowered 80,000+ people in 90 countries through its challenges, earned revenue worth £2.2 million in 2020, and witnessed an 85% growth in Alcohol-Free Challenge (AFC) sales between February - June 2021. OYNB has featured in the BBC, ITV, and Men’s Health, to name a few. It also has an online presence of 230,000+ social media followers. The company states it will use the investment to consolidate its growth and improve its technology to become a stronger brand and reach millions globally.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£932,654
Predictor Leagues is a unique fundraising tool for Football Clubs, Social Clubs, Charities, and Other Sports Clubs. This fundraising tool is a 21st Century modern alternative to run a sweepstake or a raffle. It is a combination of charity fundraising, club and football pools. This is a fun tool that is designed to keep the supporters and the club members engaged weekly. More than 70 football clubs have already registered their interest in Predictor Leagues since July. Predictor Leagues' customer target is to have 20,000 football clubs that are affiliated to the FA; 168,000 registered charities in England & Wales; and 290,000 Facebook UK sports/social club page admins.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£51,630
