Academy of Robotics is a company that specialises in combining artificial intelligence to create task simplifying machines. Its proprietary invention, Kar-Go, is one of the world’s first AI-controlled autonomous vehicles that aims to remove the need for human intervention in last-mile deliveries reducing labour costs by as much as 90%. Last-mile delivery is a £78 billion business, and e-commerce customers increasingly expect cheap and fast deliveries. This is where Kar-go aims to establish itself as the market leader. The company utilises 'Platform-as-a-service' business model where last-mile autonomous delivery is sold as a service that consists of sale or rental of vehicles & infrastructure, operators and maintenance services, and other verticals. For its innovation, Academy of Robotics has been cited by British business magnate Richard Branson & Virgin as one of the companies to make a serious impact in the autonomous car space. It has also been featured on TV and in over 200 publications including The BBC, Wired, Mail Online, Guardian amongst others. The company will use the investment to finance the building of 10 vehicles which will be used to facilitate on-road-trial.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
Withheld
Coconut automates bookkeeping and tax for sole traders. The company argues that in the next 24 months, 3.5 million sole traders in the UK will be required to complete 4 tax submissions a year instead of 1, in light of Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC's) Making Tax Digital (MTD) initiative. Coconut aspires to become the leading sole trader finance and MTD product in the UK targeting the aforementioned audience. Coconut asserts that its total revenue grew by 174% in 2020 despite COVID-19. It also claims to have onboarded 8,000 paying customers, registered a 174% revenue growth in 2020, and signed 2,800 accountants on its portal to date. Coconut connects with over 25 banks, giving automatic tax insights using banking data based on the principles of 'Open Banking'. The company will use the investment to target 100 million+ self-employed businesses in Europe and North America and grow its business across different verticals.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£2,006,334
Aura aims to make the journey towards death an approachable one for users via its portal. It aspires to become a contender in the estimated £73 billion global death services industry. Aura allows users to leave important messages for their loved ones, avail guides and resources on topics related to death and ways to prepare for it, enter safe spaces to get answers to their queries, and access curated end of related services hub via affiliate links. Aura argues that its platform is empowering 80,000+ individuals and their families to deal with death and live fuller lives. It has partnered with companies such as Dead Happy, Pure Cremation, St James’ Place and MND Association to increase its brand presence. Aura has featured on media entities such as BBC, Channel 4, Telegraph, Vice, Mirror and more. It will use the investment to help millions of people deal with death humanely.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£712,226
GivePenny is a digital toolkit for creating charity fundraising events. The company allows charities to create and promote fundraising campaigns via subscription and 'per donation' fees. GivePenny's proprietary platform allows supporters to join one of these campaigns and personalise their fundraising pages via apps like Spotify, Strava, Twitch, YouTube, and Fitbit. GivePenny asserts that the content and data from the aforementioned apps, coupled with its pledge-based payment options, drives donations. GivePenny has hosted 72 virtual events since March 2020 and processed over £700,000 in donations. Its customers include the world's largest research charity, Cancer Research UK. The company is hosted on Microsoft Azure. It has also featured in publications like The Guardian, Sky News, and BBC. The company will use the investment to scale its business and recruit personnel across sales, marketing, and software development portfolios.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£118,228
Padoq is a creative game-changing mobile application development platform for organizations and businesses which enables customers of all forms and dimensions to engage, organise and monetise. Its functionality includes Photo, file and video sharing, Event Management, Payment collection etc. The company is listed on the G-Cloud public sector procurement framework, is ISO-certified and, it has won Venturefest in the NW and membership of the Maserati 100 by the Sunday Times. With the proceeds, the company will target the release of a self-serve advertising platform that will allow communities and businesses in benefiting controlled advert inclusion.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£850,117
Whatbook is a book discovery and social network app for readers. Its goal is to become the go-to platform for everything book related and ultimately to get people reading more. The company's app is live on iOS and Android with 8,000+ users growing daily. It saved up to £3,000 by shooting its campaign video at home due to COVID-19 and put that into developing new features for its app. Whatbook aims to become a segment leader in the projected $100 billion book industry and work with publishers and booksellers on the most effective route to success and getting more people reading. The company will use the investment for marketing and platform development.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£255,374
Ayoa by OpenGenius is an intelligent digital workspace for remote teams to manage meetings, build plans and action tasks. Launched in June 2019, Ayoa already has over 12,000 paying users and c. 300,000 users who have signed up for the free product. Ayoa is used by many people at reputable organisations such as the BBC, Ernst & Young, and Cambridge University. It has an average customer rating of 4.5 stars from 1,000+ reviews across the Apple App Store, Google Play and Capterra. Moreover, the company's CEO, Chris Griffiths, has been featured in several publications such as the BBC, The Times, Forbes, GQ, and The Telegraph as an expert on topics such as creativity and productivity. With the funds received, the company will further develop its product by releasing newer features such as Smart Meetings, and Intelligent Digital Workspace, smoothening powerful integrations and integrating AI tools into the application.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£1,143,029
GeoDB is a decentralised peer-to-peer big data-sharing ecosystem, powered by Blockchain Technology, which rewards you for data generated. Users upload their data to the ecosystem and in exchange get rewarded for the data generated and datasets are purchased by buyers to access the data pool. It aims to solve the existing inefficiencies of the data industry. Till now, the company has launched Data Generator Network and Data Generator App GeoCash. The company has secured partnerships with five big data companies from Europe & Latin America. Their app is available on the google play store. Also, they have over 15,000 social media followers, including Telegram, Wechat, Twitter, Linkedin, and Medium. The proceeds will be spent on team building, marketing and growth of their Token to increase its visibility and presence in more significant and liquid exchanges.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£1,527,399
Swipii connects users to local brick-and-mortar businesses in their vicinity via its app. It allows users to earn cashback on every transaction done through the app via a debit/credit card and allows local businesses to reach more customers and run their business profitably. Swipii has 26,500 registered users on its platform and has witnessed £440,000 spent at 212 businesses nationwide. The company argues that despite the COVID lockdown, 33% of Swipii users made >1 cashback transaction each month in 2020. It aims to become a contender in the £60 billion global cashback market. Swipii has featured in The Guardian, BBC, and Wired. It won the 2016 UK Digital Experience Awards and its founders were mentioned in Forbes '30 under 30' winners. The company will use the investment to scale up user and business acquisition in new cities across the UK before going global.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£921,643
TiPJAR is a global cashless tipping platform that allows users to tip hospitality staff, buskers and hairdressers using 'Open Banking'. The company points out that tipped workers are earning less each year as cash transactions reduce, with Covid-19 having furthered this problem. It claims to have a powerful distribution engine empowering staff to control and share tips fairly and transparently. TiPJAR argues that its portal has been approved by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) as an alternative to the traditional tronc system. The company asserts that its app is already live in over 1650 venues, with over 100,000 users using the platform. The company aspires to dominate the estimated global tipping market worth a combined $100 billion per year. TiPJAR stresses that it is also the world’s first multi-currency, scalable solution that works in multiple countries. They state they will use the investment received to prepare the business for rapid scale-up growth.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£1,346,659
