Qardus is an ethical and Sharia-compliant financing platform for social impact Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and investors. Qardus asserts that the 3.8 million Muslim community in the UK, and 25 million in Europe, is massively underserved when it comes to accessing interest-free (Sharia-compliant) structures. It intends to change this. Qardus offers up to £200,000 in innovative interest-free business financing to eligible SMEs for tenors of up to 24 months and is Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) approved. Qardus points out that it has provided over £250,000 in financing to some high social impact SMEs during the COVID-19 pandemic, maintained a 100% track record with a 0% default rate to date, and featured in media entities like Sifted, Islamic Finance News, Peer-to-Peer Finance News, and Fintech Futures amongst others. It will use 30% of the investment on marketing costs for acquiring SMEs and investors on its platform, 60% on growing its team, and 10% on obtaining additional licenses to expand its services.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£313,009
VINEX is a digital Business-To-Business (B2B) trading platform that connects buyers and sellers to source, sample, negotiate and execute contracts related to wine. The company has traded more than 115 million bottles of wine across 26 countries since 2016. It has also witnessed 3,200 monthly visitors on its platform with an average of 80 million litres of wine traded each month, from 16 countries. The company recently launched VINPay, an industry-first financial technology service customised for the wine industry, providing wineries with guaranteed payment and increased access to capital liquidity. VINEX argues that VINPay pays wineries in 3 days from dispatch, rather than them waiting for 90+ days, and removes non-payment risk. The company points out that it has already started processing invoices, making and receiving payments from 7 countries. VINEX aims to become a contender in the wholesale wine market that is set to exceed US$381 billion in 2021. It will use the investment to help wineries invest and flourish.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£159,720
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
Opportunity Network is a digital network that provides equal growth opportunities to Chief Executive Officers (CEO). The portal's algorithm vets prospective users, allows them to buy, sell, raise or invest in an asset, gives them the option to choose the industry they wish to do business in, and then post their requirement for the same. The user can then select the best deal for their business from a list of responses and scale profitably. The company's platform connects 32,000+ qualified CEOs in 130+ countries to $295 billion worth of commercial, financial, and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) deals. 86% of the deals on the portal find at least 1 counterpart in 48 hours. Opportunity Network aims to reach full scale by the end of 2020 and find 10 counterparts for 95% of the deals in 1 hour. The company has also been featured in publications such as Forbes, CNBC, Financial Times, and The Economist. It will use the investment to scale its business across various verticals.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£962,500
Legal Connection (LC) is on a mission to democratise the $1 trillion legal profession, and enabling networks of legal professionals to compete with large partnership firms. The company asserts that the UK leads the world in being a friendly regulatory environment for freelance lawyers and virtual firms. LC aims to capture this sentiment and provide the aforementioned lawyers with the right technology so that they can group to provide a comparable service to large firms at a fraction of the price. LC argues that its product looks like a social networking tool but functions as a legal case and practise management suite wherein all the work takes place in secure chat rooms. Lawyers are also allowed to leverage third-party managed accounts to hold client money and execute transactions. LC was selected by Antler Venture Capital and given a pre-seed investment of £120,000. LC will use the investment to grow its user base, continue product development, and use technology to power the future of law.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£211,874
FinOptix is an innovative FinTech company that solves real business problems. FinOptix’s objective is to become a significant player in a rapidly growing FinTech market by developing systems that provide financial clarity to decision-makers. FinOptix has a well-established user base, as well as a sales pipeline that covers multiple geographies and sectors. Their verification and validation procedures applied during the development process and operational trials have led to engagement with commercial partners. With the proceeds, they will design an Evaluator for the future, apply AI techniques to solve complex problems, develop their skill set and framework and hire a team of data scientists based on the assessment.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£125,000
QFinds is a purpose-built hiring tool that enables employers to easily and efficiently pre-screen candidates, conduct interviews and generate employment contracts. The company asserts that it is a UK government vetted 'Kickstart Scheme' representative and can get small businesses grants to hire interns having already processed over 100 job applications. QFinds claims that its app has been downloaded 2 million+ times garnering 24,000 reviews averaging 4.8/5 stars. QFinds also points out that bad hirings cost the UK up to £6.7 billion in turnover, productivity, and training. It seeks to change this and disrupt the £39 billion recruitment market. The company has partnered with notable entities like University College London, Kings College London and Brunel University London, intending to use them as strategic partners to increase job seekers signing up to and using its app. QFinds will use the investment to grow its business across different verticals.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£222,866
Ziglu is a financial technology entity that allows a user to access both Forex and digital currencies seamlessly. The company permits a user to use any currency via its Mastercard debit card and protects the user's digital currency up to £50,000 against cyber-attacks. Ziglu is authorised by the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) and is one of the first companies involved with digital currencies to be registered under the UK’s Anti-Money Laundering Regulations (AMLR). The company has achieved a 94% rating on TrustPilot, offers customers the option to send money via cryptocurrency, and previously raised £5.25 million in seed funding. Ziglu has featured in media entities like Coindesk and Yahoo Finance. It will use 30% of the investment in product development, 60% on user acquisition, and 10% on international expansion initiatives.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£3,041,878
Recap is a cryptocurrency portfolio tracking, analytics and tax reporting platform. The company claims that market participants engaging in cryptocurrency have to deal with complex issues such as tracking all of their transactions, valuing cryptocurrency transactions in their tax currency and understanding capital gains tax legislation laws. Recap aims to solve this issue by enabling said participants to calculate any tax they owe on their cryptocurrency trading activity in a matter of seconds on its portal. The company has plans to launch a mobile application enabling investors to track their portfolio on the move. It also intends to come up with a Business-to-business (B2B) offering which Recap asserts will enable crypto native companies to account for their cryptocurrency activity with automatic accounts reconciliation to accounting software like Xero and Quickbooks. The company’s exit strategy is a trade sale within 3-5 years to a cryptocurrency exchange or accounting software provider.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£120,472
Peerport Limited (trading as MultiISA) is targeting the multi-million-pound market and claims to offer a holistic approach to Individual Savings Account (ISA) management. The company asserts that traditional ISA managers don’t give users enough flexibility with their investment choices. Current ISA rules restrict investors to only one ISA of each type per tax year. This impedes the investors’ ability to build a diversified IFISA portfolio. Peerport argues that its portal offers investors the freedom to operate multiple accounts like Innovative Finance ISA (IFISA), Cash ISA, and Stocks & Shares ISA under a single ISA management platform. The company will use the investment to finalise the build-out of its end to end platform, fund its office space, manage marketing costs, oversee staffing costs, pay regulatory fees and supervise working capital.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£6,033
