Business Finance Market (BFM) is a financial technology platform that stimulates the market towards Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) lending via data in the UK. BFM claims that SMEs are gradually being excluded from mainstream banking. The company cites that in 1988, 40% of all bank lending went to SMEs. BFM points out that lending today is closer to 4% with an estimated £22 billion funding gap to the 5.9 million UK SMEs. BFM asserts that almost 90% of SME loan applications are stuck due to a lack of choice and transparency when it comes to securing finance. BFM aspires to solve this dilemma. It states that its technology allows SMEs to experience quicker finance decisions based on true addressable market access and allows lenders and intermediaries access to its platform to help manage the end-to-end application process, improve deal flow, and deliver faster credit decisions. BFM intends to exit via a trade sale within the financial sector.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
Withheld
Equipsme is a company that aims to democratise health insurance by making it affordable for businesses. The company offers flexible fixed-price packages to employees while giving them the option to upgrade their package to avail more features upon payment. Members can speak to a general physician round the clock, have physiotherapy sessions, avail regular health checks and, if necessary, be quickly referred to a consultant for diagnosis and treatment. Members can access these features through a simple-to-use application. Since February 2018, the company has secured an exclusive 5-year insurance capacity deal with AXA PPP Healthcare and grown its members by 130.5% Year-on-Year (YoY) (to May 2020) with a 95% broker renewal retention rate. The company will use the investment to enhance its user experience and scale its marketing as it announces its partnerships with organisations such as Starling Bank and Simply Business.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£879,204
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
Kalendit removes the middleman (agencies) and provides UK nurseries with temporary staff while helping them save up to 50% on staffing fees. Since September, over 150 users joined Kalendit, and it is continuing to add about two workers daily. This company had launched its services in November with four nurseries, and since then, have been successfully processed 49 bookings. With the funds raised, it will hire people and serve thirty nurseries in one year. By the fifth year, it wants to take 45% of the London market, which equates to 1400 nurseries.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£82,180
Crosspay is a company that aims to make remittance simpler and cheaper. The company built its proprietary system in 2017 to bolster international transfers at a fraction of the money charged by traditional Over-The-Counter (OTC) services. It has since powered over 50,000 transactions across 50 countries with a cumulative value of approx £32,350,000. The company aspires to become the segment leader in the more than $200 billion global remittance market. Crosspay was rated 'Excellent' on Trustpilot. It also created white-labelled apps for charities and churches to host content, broadcast live and receive donations simultaneously, irrespective of location. The company has been invited to partner on an Innovate UK project. It will use the investment to grow its business across different verticals.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£212,581
Serious Pig (SP) aims to become the UK’s number one premium savoury snack brand. The company is backed by BrewDog co-founder James Watt and aims to become a contender in the UK savoury snack market valued at £3.2 billion. SP's range consists of products like 'Snack Salami', 'Snacking Cheese', and 'Snacking Pickles'. Its most recent innovation is 'Sourdough Snacking Croutons'. It has a loyal fanbase of nearly 9,000 'Club Seriously' members. The company's sales have trebled since 2018 to £1.35 million in December 2020. SP claims that despite COVID-19 shutting down hospitality in 2020, it quickly adapted and developed significant Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) revenue, in particular with Amazon, where sales grew by 235% between the first and second half of the year, touching £187,000 between June - December 2020. The company will use the investment for sales and marketing, logistics, New Product Development (NPD), and cut plastic packaging to reduce its carbon footprint.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£648,854
Tethered Drones Systems Limited (TDS) builds and develops autonomous tethered drones for use in surveillance and communications scenarios. Its product, Tethered UAV, exhibits a flight duration of 24 hours or more with secure communication via a tether. The platform can carry a range of payloads to meet client needs. The company asserts that the product has multiple uses for broadcasters such as telecasting outdoor sporting events. The UAV's blue light services, including search and rescue, holds prominence in high-risk maintenance inspections for oil and gas platforms and wind farms – both on and offshore. The company will use the investment to grow its business across different verticals.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£73,125
Six to Start are the co-creators of the popular fitness game 'Zombies, run!' and are now raising investment to grow this and to also build a new app called 'Virtual Races.' With over 3,000,000 downloads and peaks of 250k monthly active users, Zombie, Run! brings together audio storytelling and gameplay with real-world exercise. Virtual Races has already attracted over 15,000 entrants and generated over £600K+ in revenue.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£249,970
My Tree has launched a Memorial Park in the UK that enables people to plant a tree with the ashes of their loved one. It is the sole exclusive UK memorial park which offers ashes burial with the planting of a tree. The company is in discussion with DoubleTree Hilton and First Funerals. My Tree has launched its first park five miles outside of Reading and 38 miles from London. The company will use the funds to promote the site, do pre-planting to maximize usage of space and support plans to open more sites by the end of 2020.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£160,380
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
