Oxford Nanoimaging (ONI) is an offshoot company, born from the biological physics lab at Oxford University, that specialises in super-resolution microscopy. Its innovation, Nanoimager, is a super-resolution fluorescence and portable microscope that is capable of real-time 3D localization analysis and rendering. It has multiple applications in a variety of fields such as viral particle imaging, quantitative cellular imaging, epigenetic mapping, and many more. ONI states that the Nanoimager can align and analyse samples, and then upload the results onto a computer for deeper graphical and data examination. ONI is also supporting the global effort into research and diagnostics to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic and finds the Nanoimager uniquely suited to this task. The company plans to use the investment to grow its business and ensure more institutions and researchers adopt its technology.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
Withheld
Perkier is the UK’s fastest growing healthy snack bar brand. It asserts that its bars are 100% plant based, contain 60% less sugar, and are free from gluten and palm oil. Perkier aspires to dominate the global snack bar market that is worth $22 billion. The company claims that its products are distributed in every Sainsbury’s supermarket, in over 450 Morrisons stores and over 400 ASDA stores. It further points out that it is listed in major foodservice companies including Compass, Brakes and Bidfood. The company has over 55,000 followers across social media, and a brand ambassador program including team GB Olympians reaching 1.6 million people. Perkier states it will use the investment to expand its team, increase digital marketing, and invest in innovation.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£811,695
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
Big Sister Swap is a personalized clothing swapping service aiming to make circular fashion more accessible. They seek to address common challenges in accessing sustainable alternatives to fast fashion, leveraging a one-stop-swap process. Customers select a swap option by weight, print a postage label to send unwanted clothes, and fill out a style form to communicate their sizes and preferences. The company's stylists, assisted by bespoke technology, then select clothes to send back, ensuring individualized matches and keeping clothes in circulation. The service is monetized by charging customers for the swap process based on weight, with an emphasis on affordability and accessibility. Big Sister Swap's approach includes automated quality matching to maintain fairness, and they plan to expand through word-of-mouth and social media marketing.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£174,471
The Ethical Butcher (TEB) is a premium, sustainable and ethical online butcher on a mission to spearhead the craft meat revolution. It has partnered with farmers who practise regenerative agriculture and supplies premium quality meat to the restaurant industry throughout London. TEB claims that its meat is 100% pasture-fed and free from hormones and antibiotics. It has served 10,500 orders to 5,000 customers. TEB generated £789,000 in revenue and £141,000 in profit in 2020. TEB asserts that it has an ‘Excellent’ rating on Trustpilot, featured on news entities such as The Telegraph, The Times, and BBC Good Food, and claims to be the first and only online Pasture-Fed Livestock Association (PFLA) certified butcher in London. The company points out that it has 478,000 website visitors and intends to use the investment to accelerate the growth of its B2C business and scale its meat production.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£1,592,648
Howsy is an online marketplace for renting. Howsy does away with traditional over-priced and under-serviced lettings model, bringing down the cost of managing a property by an estimated 75%. Their team of 81, operate across three locations—two in the UK and one in South East Asia. The company has also been featured in publications such as Forbes and The Guardian as well as portals such as TechCityNews and Startups.co.uk. The company will use the investment to build a digital service that makes renting easier, qualify for the 'Future Fund', a government support package for start-ups, and towards building working capital and growth marketing.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£2,346,770
Loopster is a D2C platform that aspires to make selling and shopping for secondhand clothes an easy and sustainable lifestyle process. It argues that fashion is one of the most polluting industries on the planet projected to use one-fourth of the world's carbon budget by 2050. It argues that secondhand shopping offers a way out of this crisis. The company aspires to dominate the secondhand fashion industry projected to be worth $64 billion by 2024. Loopster has processed over 4000 garments and sold over 1900 in June 2021 earning revenue worth £122,000 as of May 2021. It allows sellers to order a Loopster Clear-Out Bag, send in discarded clothes, and the company does the rest, paying them for everything it accepts. For shoppers, Loopster offers hand-checked quality clothes at a quarter or less of high street prices. Loopster has featured in press entities such as The Sun, The Guardian, The Telegraph and Drapers Magazine. It has over 23,000 social media followers and 15,000 newsletter subscribers. Loopster states it will use the investment to continue scaling and building out a service for brands, hire a marketing manager and further optimise its processing technology to scale rapidly.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£393,149
Marine Power Systems (MPS) states that it has developed a technology that can harness wind power, wave power or combined wind and wave energy at grid scale. It argues that governments worldwide are looking for alternative sources to meet global energy consumption needs. MPS endeavours to usher in an energy revolution and become a contender in the floating offshore energy market that is set to be worth over $100 billion by 2035. MPS claims to have successfully tested its medium-scaled prototype in the ocean, demonstrating the ease of transportation, deployment, and showcasing the devices ability to generate grid compliant electricity. The company has been awarded a £12.8 million grant by the European Union (EU) to deliver a full scale, grid-connected commercial demonstrator in 2022. It says it will use the investment to conduct its final phase of development and testing before taking its devices to market in Q1 of 2024.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£4,151,001
Marine Power Systems (MPS) is a company that has developed a technology that can harness wind power, wave power or combined wind and wave energy at grid scale. MPS estimates global electricity consumption as a £2 trillion annual market that is growing with a need for harnessing renewable energy sources. The company's mission is to be a world leader in the manufacturing and supply of marine energy extraction hardware. MPS completed a multi-million-pound project to design, manufacture and sea test a 1:4 scale prototype at Falmouth, UK. The company will use the investment to match-fund £17 million of non-dilutive government grant funding that is already secured for a project to design, manufacture and test a full-scale device demonstrator that will prove the technology is ready for commercial scaling.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£2,151,815
Saurus is a digital banking platform that aims to make all banking services accessible to its users from the convenience of their smartphones. The company aims to develop a current account facility and contactless payments between their users' smartphones, and eventually venture into saving accounts, Automatic A.I Loans, P2P Loans, Investment account, Instant transfers, and Personalized Debit Cards. The company has a growing online presence with 133,000+ YouTube and 700+ Instagram followers with 1500 users registering on the portal with negligible marketing activities. In February 2020, more than a 1000 people showed interest in opening a Saurus account. With the investment, the company aims to launch the Saurus App with 'Current Accounts' features during Q3 2020, hire qualified professionals to expand the brand, and sign appropriate contracts with its providers.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£943,540
