Vertically Urban (VU) is a horticultural lighting specialist that produces high-tech LED lighting solutions for indoor industrial farms, glasshouses, medicinal growers and onsite Pod farms, who in turn, supply to supermarkets, restaurants and the medical market. The company aims to be a segment leader in the global vertical farming market that is projected to reach $12.7 billion by 2026. VU asserts that vertical farming has been tipped as the future of food production and supported by early investors such as Amazon’s Jeff Bezos. The company has witnessed £30 million+ worth of sales to date. It will use the investment to increase brand awareness via horticultural trade shows, market its products on online and offline portals, develop new technologies, and recruit senior personnel to oversee growth in key markets.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£335,040
trükl is a web-based, integrated and automated parcel delivery booking platform for small businesses. The company argues that on average, 5% of all UK deliveries don’t go as planned, which amounts to over 50 million dissatisfied customer experiences. trükl intends to change this and become a contender in the parcel delivery industry that is expected to double to £21 billion by 2024. The company monitors orders for issues and alerts retailers in real-time to ensure satisfied customers across the supply chain. It has successfully monitored the delivery of 4,500+ shipments since August 2020. The company also processed 330 orders earning revenue worth £1,800 on a single day in December 2020. trükl is a member of SETsquared, an award-winning business incubator. The company will use the investment to develop its integrations further, platform features and acquire and support new retailers.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£357,477
Occuity seeks to develop revolutionary non-invasive screening and monitoring devices for chronic diseases like diabetes and Alzheimer's. It argues that its device safely shines a low power beam of light into the eye and then collects and analyses the return signal to accurately measure structures within the eye and detect changes associated with the onset of the aforementioned diseases. Occuity is targeting three distinct markets, namely Ophthalmology, Disease Screening and Disease Monitoring, which is worth an estimated $35 billion per year. It claims that its 'Occuity Indigo' product enables earlier detection of diabetes and provides a non-contacting, pain-free glucose monitor. Occuity was awarded over £1.5 million as part of the Innovate UK grant for the development of technology within Occuity Indigo. It has also signed a partnership with one of the UK's leading ophthalmic distributors, Birmingham Optical, to distribute its PM1 pachymeter device. It states it will use 42% of the investment towards Research and Development (R&D), 23% towards sales and marketing, 20% towards management and finance, 9% towards managing CAPEX and NRE, and 6% towards paying fees.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£2,854,857
TOG designs handmade kitchen knives that are forged in the Samurai sword. By working with craftsmen in Seki, Japan, this company has produced knives and a brand that met its customers' needs. It has been endorsed by ten Michelin star chefs and appeared on cooking shows such as Masterchef. In 2017 and 2018, TOG Knives reached 18k profit (EBITDA £19.5k). Currently, it is aiming to be the UK's No.1 premium knife brand by helping people realise how enjoyable food preparation is, only if, one owns the right knife. With the fund raised, it will purchase stock, grow its team, shift its staff to full time and hiring new people.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£193,810
A grocery retailer and kitchen combination, for customers to purchase essential food whilst drinking a coffee. Melrose and Morgan currently operate in two locations; Hampstead and Primrose Hill. They are now seeking funds to expand their business further in London, with the aim of opening two stores in 2019 and totalling 10 stores by 2022. The company has been trading for almost 15 years and has their products listed in other retailers, including Selfridges, Ocado and independent shops.
Melrose and Morgan own more than 50 SKUs and source their produce from small businesses in the UK. The company has recently restructured, which has resulted in refurbishing their two existing stores, upgrading their website and investing toward research and development of new products and fine food.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£115,600
Halo Coffee (HC) makes 100% home compostable biodegradable coffee capsules. It has sold its products to more than 9,000 customers across 70 countries. The company has generated 45% of sales revenues by subscription customers having a more 40% retention rate. HC was the winner of Sky: Beyond Plastic category at the tve 2019 Global Sustainability Awards. It has also signed a partnership with The Perfect World Foundation, and onboarded noted environmentalist, Sir David Attenborough. HC is the official sponsor of the British Olympic Sailing team. The company is planning to launch Halo Coffee Germany (GmbH) in 2021. The company will use the investment to build brand awareness, further develop sales, drive customer acquisition, expand product portfolio, strengthen the team and build Capsule Generation II.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£349,160
Deciwatt develops renewable energy solutions and its new product (nowlight), creates instant power and light from the pull of a cord. This company created 'nowlight' leveraging on the success of its first product ‘GravityLight’, which had secured media coverage from around the world, won many awards and was sold by major retailers like Best Buy and Walmart. Additionally, it has been awarded a new £173,788 grant from Innovate UK to integrate Pay-As-You-Go technology into nowlight. Further, this company has a pending registered trademark on the nowlight name and a patent pending on the manual power generation mechanism. It will invest the fund raised in implementing its marketing plans, further product development, and scale up its marketing activity and develop its business.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£519,607
Wilton London (WL) is a B Corp that creates eco-friendly home care products packed with essential oils and sells Direct To Consumer (D2C) via a subscription service. The company argues that traditional home care products are loaded with nasty chemicals that are harmful to the environment. WL aspires to change this with its products. The brand has signed partnerships with stockists like Ocado, Holland & Barrett, Robert Dyas, Lakeland and Farmdrop, established an eCommerce business with 10,000+ D2C sales to date, and has 11 products in the detergent and cleaning categories. They have featured in publications like Ideal Home, Metro, Stylist, and Daily Mail. WL states they aim to become a contender in the UK Household cleaning market valued at £3.7 billion. The company states it will use 40% of the investment to fulfil large stock orders and boost new product development, 30% towards furthering business development and recruitment. and 30% towards acquisition and retention marketing to expand its subscription model.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£540,172
West Berkshire Brewery is a beer manufacturer on a mission to deliver best-in-class beers, from heritage styles to modern craft beers, to its customers. Its products are on the shelves of UK supermarkets including Waitrose, Tesco and the Co-Op. The company can scale up to 26 million pints per annum thanks to its modern brewery units that are equipped with bottling and canning lines technologies along with the option of cold storage. Its brewery consists of a 200-capacity 'Taproom & Kitchen', a destination venue that generates a revenue of £1.4 million per annum. It will utilise the investment to support the installation and commissioning of its 'Fridge Pack Machine', support marketing initiatives with its pub partners across the South of England, and provide capital to enable any pub acquisition opportunities as they arise over the coming year.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£1,390,948
A mobile fashion app designed to be easy-to-use and provide a superior shopping experience. Shopupp tailors its fashion range to each customer, delivering a unique and personalised clothing selection resulting in less frustration for consumers to find the right item. Shopupp has garnered £140k from professional investors in the fashion and retail industry and has had a highly successful beta phase of its platform with more than 23,000 installs.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£217,950
