Ace+Freak is a Ready To Drink (RTD) cocktail for Millennials and future generation Z consumers. Its mission is to disrupt the £630 million UK RTD market, offering an impeccable tasting product. The company asserts that it uses only natural and vegan-friendly ingredients in its products. It points out that it has put 125,000 cans in hands to date and has 8,500 followers on Instagram. The company has more than 125 strategic business to business customers and a nationwide UK distribution. Ace+Freak was voted 'Best cocktail RTD' at the International Canned Challenge competition. The company has seeded the brand within culturally relevant events to its millennial customers including Adidas, Beats by Dre, Max Factor and Saatchi Gallery. It will use 35% of the investment for operational excellence, 45% for marketing, and 25% to hire personnel.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£176,410
Ember Snacks (ES) is a sustainable meat snack brand that aims to end factory farming in the meat industry. It works directly with farmers committed to using high welfare and regenerative practices to improve soil health and encourage wildlife on their farms. Since its launch in 2017, ES's products have been stocked in over 2,000 distribution points across the UK, including Sainsbury’s and Waitrose. It also argues that it is the most reviewed meat snack brand on Amazon across the UK and Europe, with nearly 4,000 reviews. The company asserts that its products are stocked in 200 Stonegate pubs, supported by field activation. It earned over £1.75 million in sales in 2020, won a medal at the Charcuterie Live Awards 2021, and received over 35 pieces of press coverage in 2021. ES states it will use the investment to discourage factory farming, build its team, grow distribution channels in major UK supermarkets, launch a campaign to highlight factory farming practices, reach out to new customers, and launch new products.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£1,420,578
Schoolmates is an excellent social networking platform created by Chris Goodwin (CEO and Founder). There are about 32,000 educational establishments enlisted on Schoolmates’ website. It is an easy-to-use free networking platform to connect with old and new friends. It caters to 25+ (age group) representing 50% of the UK population.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£16,410
Love Ocean (LO) is an ocean-inspired bathroom product brand. It is on a mission to make natural marine ingredient products, eliminate single-use plastic in the bathroom and drive a 'Reuse & Refill' (R&R) culture. LO aims to become a contender in the adult and children's toiletries market worth £750 million in the UK alone. LO is launching a children's product range that consists of a whale tail-shaped bottle made from 100% post-consumer recycled plastic, designed to be reused and refilled via a quarterly subscription. LO asserts that it contributes part of its profits to the Plastic Bank that endeavours to remove 1 kilogram of ocean-bound plastic in Haiti, the Philippines, and Indonesia. The company is planning to launch a baby range in 2022, an adult range in 2023, and a youth range in 2024. LO will use the investment to create educational editorial content to eliminate ocean-bound plastic, build an engaged community, and scale its business.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£296,156
Hope is an online fashion brand that targets the 50+ woman demographic. Founded in 2015 by Nayna McIntosh, who has more than 30 years of experience in the fashion industry, the company has 34,000 subscribers and 6,300 customers. The brand is 'Made in Italy' or 'Made in UK' using recycled cashmere and 100% recyclable packaging. Hope has 1600+ reviews on Trustpilot and has been featured in The Sunday Telegraph/Woman & Home and The Telegraph Magazine. With the proceeds, the company will invest in digital advertising and web development.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£268,312
Synatus is a virtual consulting group that enables senior level experienced sole practitioners to work together to service and develop client business. The Group provides the individual with a total support structure for their business which includes visible profiles on the web site, centralised marketing initiatives and saving money on services they buy for their business. They also earn fees for referring colleagues and introducing third party products and services to clients.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
Withheld
3RD ROCK is a sustainable activewear brand that aims to make the best and most ethical climbing clothing in the world. It claims that it has developed a worldwide reputation for making extremely comfortable, better fitting, Made-To-Move garments that perform on the rocks, meet high ethical standards, and transition seamlessly into a user's everyday life. The company has witnessed a 215% growth in the last twelve months despite COVID-19, sold over 65,000 units, and garnered £1.3 million in revenue to date. The company has also acquired knowledge from the Goldman-Sachs accelerator programme. It has recycled over 12,000 plastic bottles into its garments and over 1 tonne of sea waste in its leggings and bra-tops The company will use the investment for range expansion with new innovative product lines, build up its Direct-To-Consumer (DTC) model further, and hire key personnel.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£393,439
Callaly is the UK’s first female care B-Corp that delivers subscription-based organic cotton period products. The company has invented and patented the 'Tampliner', a combination of an organic cotton tampon with a soft mini-liner for built-in leak protection, with a clean insertion and removal, and no hard plastic applicator. It is multi-patented in 30 countries. The company has developed bespoke robotic machinery to automate production at a UK facility. In a £26 billion global femcare market, Callaly claims that its potential tampliner market would constitute 2% to 4% by 2024. The company has received rave reviews from magazines such as Cosmopolitan and Grazia. Callaly plans to begin sales in Europe in the third quarter of 2020 followed by sales in the US and Asia in 2021.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£1,704,460
Nanusens is the manufacturer of small sensor chips that are mainly used in smartphones and earbuds. Its integrated circuits with built-in nano-sensors are reliable, better performing and have a lower cost. Nanusens' patent-pending technology uses an already existing standard manufacturing process known as CMOS, and do not have any mechanical moving parts inside, thereby creating more valuable space within the devices that can be used for other components. This company's first target is the mobile phone industry, which approximately sees 1.5 billion smartphones sold per year, then it has added another growing target market, earbuds. The earbuds are sold mainly by the same companies but require even smaller chips than currently available which Nanusens believe that it can do much better than its competitors along with providing for other future requirements.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£557,290
Petalon is a business that delivers flowers across London and Britain on bicycles. Incorporated in 2016, Petalon was the culmination of two simple ideas delivering flowers to clients and ensuring carbon-neutrality. Petalon's aims to simplify flower delivery by cutting out waste and not compromising on aesthetics or affordability. For every 100 deliveries, Petalon donates 5% of operating profits to bee conservation charities and plants a tree in Britain. They have been praised by renowned publications such as Vogue, Vanity Fair and Stylist. Since incorporation, the company has secured a turnover of £700,000. With the investment, Petalon seeks to develop more brand awareness outside of London, build a dedicated following on social media channels and fund a nationwide marketing campaign to bring beautiful, sustainable floristry to clients across demographics.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£93,850
