Charm is a peer-to-peer impact investment platform that allows a user to use his/her investments to drive positive change in the world while earning a financial return. Morgan Stanley estimates that 85% of people are interested in sustainable investing. Charm enables individuals to fund projects led by high-impact entrepreneurs selling clean energy solutions in developing economies. Users can view their investments on the company's transparent, personalised impact investment dashboard, as well as, earn social, environmental and financial bottom line returns for their contributions. The company secured a £496,000 grant funding to develop its platform, refine its offering & provide growth capital. It is in the process of becoming an appointed representative of a Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) authorised entity post this funding round. It will use the investment to expand its team, develop its platform, and raise brand awareness.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£273,720
Comino is an international start-up specialising in the design and production of liquid-cooled PCs and servers. It claims that its products consume up to 40% less electricity than equivalent air-cooling computers. The company currently operates in AI, Forensic, Gaming, and Video Rendering, with aspirations to enter other domains in the coming years. Comino has sold 2,000 work stations to professional businesses, accruing sales north of 9 million EUR since its launch in 2017. Its products have been accredited by global hardware giants like AMD and ASUS. The company will use 70% of proceeds for manufacturing its devices, 10% towards marketing and promotional materials, and 20% to compensate its teams.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£949,608
Elemental is an agricultural food technology company that converts 78% of beef processing waste into sustainable fertiliser. The company claims that its technology can potentially reduce global beef CO2 emissions equivalent to 50 million cattle. Elemental asserts that its technology has been developed through extensive R&D and protected by patents in 60+ countries. The company raised £1.5 million on Crowdcube in late 2019, signed agreements for 14 projects in the UK and Europe using its technology, built a demonstrator plant and agreed to install its technology on commercial terms at 6 UK abattoirs. The company states they will use the investment to operationalise their first plant by December 2021 and grow their business across different verticals.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£1,395,801
TransferGuru is a money transfer comparison site that aims to get the best deal possible for people transfering money abroad. The user simply inputs the amount they want to send and where they want it to go and they will then be shown all the options, displaying the best price, the best ratings and the fastest way to make the transfer.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£82,593
Nextfin is an FCA approved aggregation and rating portal for equity and debt crowdfunding investments.
AIM is shrinking, legacy stock markets are too expensive to maintain and do not serve the requirements of SMEs, banks are closing branches, lending less and are paying little or no interest to investors. As a result of this, there is a huge growth in equity crowdfunding and P2P lending which has seen the launch of hundreds of alternative lenders & platforms that has created a new c.£3bn marketplace, expanding at 66% p.a. There is no single portal or trusted ratings index for investors to compare on a like for like basis and no secondary market to facilitate exits.
* NextFin is the new trading name of Business Agent Ltd
The solution
NextFin aggregates equity and debt crowdfunding investments to create the alternative finance marketplace. This makes it easy for investors and lenders to find and compare opportunities by presenting all investment offerings in one place. With the addition of a free of charge ratings service investors will be able to view ratings of every equity crowdfunding pitch, every P2P site, and every equity crowdfunding site. NextFin’s technology will constantly track these companies and investments providing the investor real-time intelligence on which to base investment decisions. The platforms and entrepreneurs will be self-promoting and marketing their ratings driving thousands of visitors a month to the NextFin site, in the same way, businesses refer their potential clients to Trip Advisor and Trustpilot. There is an estimated 10 million website/platform visitors per month across the whole of the alternative finance market. NextFin is targeting to direct 5% of this highly profiled traffic to its platform from which it will earn between £5-£8 per click from advertisers and partners. In addition, an in-house brokerage service also earns between 1%-6% commissions on loan placements. A future revenue stream (not featured in the financials) will be developed once visitor traffic reaches critical mass. This will see Nextfin being able to realise the full value of its captured ratings data and visitor traffic by launching a secondary market, which is estimated to be a £5bn marketplace.
NextFin is raising £500k at a pre-money valuation of £2M to: • Develop P2P and Equity site ratings• Expand the management, infrastructure and marketing resource• Increase visitor traffic to 6m a year via rating referrals
Owing to the size of the market and rapid growth of the industry, enterprise valuations in alternative finance are based on visitor traffic, market share and registered users. Recently published valuations of companies with visitor traffic of over 6m per year are in excess of £70m. NextFin is the market-leading aggregator and has first-mover advantage. It has the potential to exceed these valuations because it is the whole of the market aggregator and is currently the only ratings service provider as it grows to achieve 500,000 visitors p.m.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£274,057
PlusGuidance is an online counselling/therapy platform that gives people immediate access to counselling. It provides secure video, voice, IM and email sessions directly through the site, and booking in-person sessions too. Our Mission - Immediate access to counselling for everyone.Business Model - Software-as-a-Service for counsellors, who pay a monthly fee to use secure online sessions, practice management tools to manage their clients, and a public web profile in our directory.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£115,022
The Pension Lab offers an interative platform for employees and individuals, helping them reconnect and engage with their pensions. Its mission is to provide the customers with better knowledge of pensions and promote long-term financial decision making. The company has reached the finals of 'Pitchfest' competition held at the NEC as a component of “Venturefest”, and it is also a finalist in the “Innovation in Business” category. Some of the best Fintech solutions providers and pension services such as Yodlee and Origo are in partnership with the Pension Lab. With the proceeds, the company will develop its working capital, infrastructure development, and customer acquisition.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£38,024
Solent Automation specialises in developing, deploying and supporting automation robots to perform and tackle common manual labour-intensive tasks in factories. To solve the 'pick-and-place' challenges in an industrial setup, these robots are created with proven reliable components coupled with proprietary software to solve 'pick-and-place' challenges in an industrial environment. Two of the company's noteworthy products are 'SOLPAL 8' and 'SOLPACK 1XP, both are equipped with an all-in-one gripping tool, and can handle 16 boxes per minute and 60 packs per minute, respectively. Backed by a team of experts from manufacturing and robotics, Solent Automation provides on-site installation, training, and remote support for its products. There is also a rent-to-buy option through a 3rd party finance company. With the investment, the company aims at providing more robotic equipment most needed in factories focused on labour-intensive work functions.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£76,000
JOHNNY'S is an ethical, vegan, and sex-positive subscription condom brand. The company aims to deliver its products on a subscription basis, following in the footsteps of Direct-To-Consumer (DTC) health disruptors like Harry's and Dollar Shave Club. It aims to become a contender in the global condom market that is set to be worth $15 Billion by 2026 and enter the lubricant and sex toy market later in 2021. The company has also pledged to give a condom to HIV/STI/NHS clinics for each condom sold. It will use the investment for a PR launch, social media advertising, stock purchase, and attract talent to help the business hit its growth targets.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£182,281
Ouno is dedicated to simplifying business travel. Their application provides luxurious, on-demand rides for executives, seamlessly connecting clients with their preferred drivers. By 2023, Ouno has generated £1.1 million in revenue since the app's launch, although it has experienced a negative EBITDA of £350,000 during this period.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£411,778
