White Peak Distillery (WPD) is a whisky distillery that aims to change the way whisky is made and create authentic flavours. It has so far invested £1.4 million in tried and tested plant equipment producing 400,000 bottles of maturing whisky. The company aims to become a contender in the $60 billion global premium whisky market. WPD has received 'Gold Awards' from The Wizards of Whisky World Whisky Awards. It has come out with programs to monetise its maturing whisky including its Cask Sales program, Temperance Club membership and its Prologue 2.1 release 2-year aged single malt spirit, that has been received with positive feedback. WPD has also been awarded visitor business in The Peak District, which receives 13 million+ visitors per annum, boosting its Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) model. It will use the investment to grow its business across different verticals.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£1,301,320
Pedal Me uses high-tech cargo bikes, trailers and trained riders to provide delivery & taxi services when needed. The company offers a solution that will out-perform motors in car-centric cities as bike-friendly measures like bike lanes are introduced. As of now, the company has 32 bikes and 45 staff in total. It has witnessed a strong MoM growth (19% on avg). The trips provided by Pedal Me has negligible carbon footprint in comparison with vans, taxis or electric vehicles. With the funds, the company will improve the technology, maintain speed with demand, develop the staff and balance the process.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£421,330
Zvilo aims to become a major challenger bank in the Balkans for Balkan people living in the European Economic Area (EEA). It plans to disrupt the outdated Balkan banking sector and become a contender in an estimated remittances per annum market worth €14 billion. The company asserts that it has procured a letter of intent for a pilot program that would allow it to offer business lending to 800+ Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and financial services to 45,000+ potential personal banking customers. It has also initiated a licensing application with the Central Bank of Kosovo and partnered with Mastercard as its card partner. Zvilo will use the investment to formalise its application for Supply Chain Finance (SCF) licensing in Kosovo, execute its strategic partnership agreement with its Kosovar partner retailer, prepare for a second fundraising round, and expand its services.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£666,085
Carbon Gold (CG) is an organic biochar producer and retailer. It claims that its products can replace harmful pesticides, last longer, and lock away CO2. The company's sales increased by 253% from £77,000 to £272,000 in 2020 with sales in 17 countries worldwide. CG's organic products employ biochar, a type of charcoal made from sustainably sourced materials. CG further enriches it with multiple strains of fungi, bacteria and minerals, that support healthy soil biology. The company is partnering with the Woodland Trust, is certified by the Soil Association, and is also a certified B Corp. The company will use the investment to boost its marketing, international development, and manufacturing.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£722,468
Hitmarker is a proprietary job platform that covers the entire video game sector. It aims to be the leading job provider in the $159 billion video game industry. It has a database of 67,000 candidates and has posted 46,000 jobs from 4,500 companies in 77 countries. The company asserts that one million people have used Hitmarker 2.5 million times to post or look for jobs. Hitmarker has been covered by publications like Forbes, CNBC, and The FT. It has also onboarded 20 partners, including The University of California, RGF Executive Search, and the British Esports Association. The company will use the investment to build a global network of localised platforms in crucial territories and expand its addressable market.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£521,283
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
UnderPinned gives freelancers a single, dedicated platform to learn how to build a successful business, find clients, manage their work, and help them get paid on time. The company aspires to build a connection with users that ensures everyone thrives through its accelerator programme, community, and content. UnderPinned asserts that its accelerator programme allows it to achieve day one unit profitability before converting users to subscribers. It claims to have made £12,772 in revenue with £8,000 spent on marketing in its first month of programme sales in January 2021. The company argues that COVID-19 has accelerated freelancing, moving away from traditional employment. UnderPinned has a community of over 20,000 subscribers and growing. It says itvwill use the investment to scale its team, marketing and product development as it focuses on expanding in the US and EU markets.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£629,086
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
British Pearl is a property investment platform facilitating share & loan investment in property. It is an FCA authorised investment manager which allows fractional international investment in the property without any hassle. British Pearl has won ten award nominations, three speaker engagements and has been featured in over 20 media including the Times, the Daily Mail and the BBC. With the proceeds, the company will grow the sales, increase property sourcing and develop the platform's features.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£910,132
DNApal is a personalised diet, health and fitness app that combines DNA infomation with other factors like age, weight, diet, family history and health goals. Two of the largest consumer DNA companies, 23andMe and Ancestry.com, have tested over 18m people. DNApal is capable of interpreting DNA results from these companies to provide precise recommendations on how to improve diet, hormone balance, weight loss, sleep, fitness & more. The company also won the best pitch at VentureFest 2019 at Oxford Brookes University. DNApal is aiming to launch MVP in January 2020 (iOS). The company is also aiming to recommend further testing and specific supplements where necessary and offer 1:1 consultations with a specialist. With the fund raised, DNApal plans to develop the full scope of the app, weekly goals, content challenges to keep users committed.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£49,990
