Sophia Technologies is an Education Technology (EdTech) company that has launched an on-demand mobile application for hiring private tutors. All tutors on the portal are scrutinised by Sophia's education team as per industry standards to ensure quality teaching. Sophia allows clients to book sessions via its app and avail online classes at any location the client finds convenient. The company is working towards getting accreditation with the U.K. Department of Education (DOE). It has also received press coverage from organisations such as Telegraph, iNews, TechRound, OpenGov, and Just Entrepreneurs. In April 2020, the company launched SophiaX, a learning feature where parents can book classes focusing on extra-curricular activities for their kids. The company will use the investment raised to focus on technological development, and support customer acquisition & retention.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£571,581
SaigolEd is a subscription-based Education Technology (EdTech) company that aims to make quality teaching available to millions of 7-18-year-olds across the UK at an affordable price. It is developing an app to combine immersive videos with charismatic teachers from leading schools, rich visual effects, leading Artificial Intelligence (AI) and tests to inspire learning. The company points out that its teaching courses will be available to students wherever or whenever they wish to access them. SaigolEd also intends to cover the full student curriculum to enable its users to excel in their exams once the company's app development is complete. The company argues that there is no dominant UK EdTech player in a multi-billion pound market. It aspires to fulfil that gap. SaigolEd will use the investment to build a prototype that would be overseen by its team including a star teacher from a top UK school, initiate rigorous user group testing, and target General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSEs) as its core market.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£271,975
Feed is a platform that automates digital advertising for musicians and creators by enabling them to grow an audience and build their businesses. The creator needs to connect their social media accounts to the Feed portal and set a budget. The portal will then create ads that reach new people and convert engaged audiences into loyal fans over time. The company asserts that existing ad generation platforms are too complex, time-consuming and expensive for creators. Feed argues that its portal caters to a variety of budgets, requires no marketing knowledge and takes minutes to get started. The beta platform is integrated with Facebook's & Instagram's ad network and has 500 creators on board. The company will use the investment to launch the paid version of Feed in Q4 2020.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£146,117
YurOn is a video platform that cultivates authentic interaction between prominent personalities and their fans. The portal allows people from different walks of life–drag queens, mountaineers, activists–thirty seconds to ignite a conversation, start an Ask Me Anything or co-create a skit. YurOn shuns away filters, anonymous commenting, vanity metrics or validation-driven algorithms and endeavours to bring to the public an unadulterated conversation between stars and their fans. The portal soft-launched in Q2 of 2020 and has seen over 5000 downloads, 2000 active users, and 32% of users retaining over a month. The company will use 80% of the investment to grow its tech team and cloud infrastructure, and 20% towards marketing and partnerships to accelerate growth.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£222,110
SeedStream is a digital content platform that uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to combine articles, videos and podcasts into personalised feeds based on user interests. The company has built a prototype focussing on Formula 1 motorsport that aggregates free-to-access news articles and YouTube videos alongside social media posts from the drivers and teams to cover stories from every angle. SeedStream aims to be a disruptor in the 580 million subscription services market. The company will use the investment to develop its prototype into a complete platform, produce original content based on trending topics, and accelerate into different markets.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£40,843
HighCandi is a drone services business that specialises in providing operational support to large companies, for example, in telecommunications and renewable energy sectors. It brings together independent drone service providers under one brand and uses these drones to inspect infrastructure, providing photo analysis, video inspections, and 3D digital models of facilities to help clients manage their assets in an affordable manner. HighCandi’s app, which can memorise and automate inspection regimes, makes sure that each drone delivers consistent imaging and data. The company's aerial videographers are Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) licensed and adhere to legal restrictions wherever they film. The company's strategy is to target 10% ($520 million) of two key sectors, namely The Global Industrial Inspection market and European Real Estate market, by 2021. HighCandi is a potential disruptor in the drone sector which is expected to boost the UK economy by £42 billion. With the investment, the company will start recruitment to drive sales, pilot engagement, and brand marketing.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
Withheld
Open Energy Labs is an education technology company that teaches students in Africa how to build and maintain renewable electricity supplies. The company is developing an educational application along with a hardware kit that facilitates the 'learning by making' approach. This teaches students electronics, enabling them to build a renewable electricity supply, and provide reliable power for lighting and mobile-phone charging. The company's current technology setup is being utilised by Zambia’s two top technical colleges, and it has Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) under discussion with the nation's Ministry of Higher Education and Ministry of Energy to roll the programme out to a further 3,000 students. Open Energy Labs has received more than £184,000 from Innovate UK through the Global Challenges Research Fund. It has previously raised £67,000 from backers such as Bethnal Green Ventures and Energy4Impact. The company will use the investment to develop its technology and roll its programme across Zambia.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£119,835
Gigrev is a powerful direct to fan social platform for artists to connect directly with their fan base, enabling them to own their fan data, generate a new revenue stream and save on social media advertising costs. Fans can get exclusive behind the scenes access to video blogs, insights of their favourite artist, event tickets and buy merchandise direct.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£296,200
Cypher is an education technology company that aims to offer coding education online to children aged 6-12. It asserts that teaching children the tools to think computationally allows them to break down a real-world problem and work out how to fix it. The company teaches its students a variety of coding languages such as Scratch, Python, and JavaScript. Cypher has witnessed a total turnover of £990,000 to date, taught 2000+ online students in less than a year completing over 15,000 hours of teaching, and has created over 100 courses as part of its curriculum. The company has featured in press entities like Forbes, Wired, Harper's Bazaar, BBC News, and New York Times, to name a few. Cypher will use 43% of the investment for hiring key personnel, 42% for platform development, and 15% for customer acquisition costs.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£290,619
Lobster Pictures is a tech company that specialises in remote time-lapse camera systems. These time lapse camera systems limit the need for on-site visits, therefore saving time and money. The Lobster Pot has recorded projects in almost every environment known to man.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£45,360
