Vertically Urban (VU) is a horticultural lighting specialist that produces high-tech LED lighting solutions for indoor industrial farms, glasshouses, medicinal growers and onsite Pod farms, who in turn, supply to supermarkets, restaurants and the medical market. The company aims to be a segment leader in the global vertical farming market that is projected to reach $12.7 billion by 2026. VU asserts that vertical farming has been tipped as the future of food production and supported by early investors such as Amazon’s Jeff Bezos. The company has witnessed £30 million+ worth of sales to date. It will use the investment to increase brand awareness via horticultural trade shows, market its products on online and offline portals, develop new technologies, and recruit senior personnel to oversee growth in key markets.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£335,040
Supermeal is an online food ordering platform offering instant cashback to the customer for every order they place. Supermeal has served more than 50k orders and listed over 100k food items on its portal. The company is signing up 45+ restaurant partners every month with a total of registered 675+ restaurant partners. Supermeal has followed a business model that reduces the fees restaurants pay to 7% and provides a mandatory cashback (5%) to consumers. It has given £11,000+ in cashback and attracted over 10,000 customers generating £53k in device sales and £220,000 in orders. With the proceeds, the company will accelerate its marketing efforts, strengthen its senior management, and operational activities.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£575,000
Dream Reality Interactive (DRI) is a software development company that builds interactive programmes and games across the full spectrum of immersive platforms and devices. DRI is in a soft launch of its mobile Augmented Reality (AR) karaoke game, Singheads, with the full launch expected in late June. DRI is partnering with Snapchat to leverage its 229 million daily active users towards this objective. The game offers players a new song to sing every day, and the unique business model opens the mobile karaoke market to ad-funded play. AR avatar heads powered by Bitmojoi (similar to Apple’s highly valued Memoji) significantly enhance the user experience. The company will use the investment to further develop its game. It will exit by being a catalyst in launching a successful number of games and eventually be acquired by a global platform such as Snapchat, Apple, Tik Tok, or by a global video games company such as Electronic Arts, Zynga, Activision, Tencent or NetEase.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£135,000
Switchd's proprietary technology model allows users to select the best energy solutions to power their homes. The company argues that more than 60 suppliers are dealing in solar, heat pumps and batteries in the UK which can be confusing for users to choose from. Switchd aspires to simplify this. Users can enter their energy tariff details on the company's portal. Switchd then uses its smart algorithm to find the user the best deal from over 26,000 tariffs. The company will also switch users every 6-9 months based on future energy deals. Switchd claims its model has saved users an average of over £400 per year on their energy bills. Switchd is backed by angel investors, Inspired Energy, and the Nationwide Building Society, who are promoting Switchd to their 15.5 million members. The company was rated 'Excellent' on Trustpilot in July 2021 and intends to become a contender in the £6 billion UK and £300 billion global green homes solutions market. The company states it will use the investment to accelerate platform development, boost ongoing performance monitoring, grow its user base and lead the market.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£1,246,010
Aloha is a barrier-free WiFi hotspot and data-sharing platform. The company estimates that 3.5 billion smartphone users worldwide pay to access the web with many unable to access the internet daily due to technical or financial constraints. Conversely, 67% of smartphone users do not consume all of their mobile phone data available to them each month. Aloha aims to change this scenario. It enables users to get paid for sharing unused data and be rewarded with 'Aloha Tokens' that can be exchanged for cash, bitcoins and exclusive offers from Aloha's partner companies. Business users and advertisers can use the advertising tools in the Aloha application and broadcast offers and promotions directly to a targeted audience within the Aloha community. The company will use 20% of the investment to list the Aloha Token with one or more key Crypto exchange platforms, 15% to expand the application development team, 17% to complete development of the Aloha Marketplace, 20% for marketing and PR, 16% for running monthly costs, 3% for Aloha app upgradation, and 10% as contingency funds.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£307,707
HairFare is an end-to-end hair and beauty chair rental platform that connects beauty professionals to salons, studios and barbershops across the UK. It asserts that the hair and beauty industry was worth £10 billion in 2018 and is set to increase. HairFare aims to be a contender in this segment. HairFare asserts that it has expanded to five cities within the UK with no marketing budget. The platform has featured in media platforms including The Barber Magazine, Islington Gazette, Startups of London, Business Daily, ITProPortal, ExBulletin, Compsmag, and LinkedIn News, to name a few. It will use 40% of the investment for creating its proprietary app, 40% towards marketing to increase the number of business owners and beauty professionals on the platform, 10% towards setting up its merchandise line, and 10% towards establishing the HairFare Academy.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£57,736
Oyako is a distance-control application that aims to reduce the stresses and strains on children's eyes. The company asserts that an increase in mobile technology usage has led to an increase in myopia (nearsightedness) in children. It also leads to parents incurring a cost by way of purchasing spectacles along with a cost to the National Health Service (NHS) and medical insurance companies. By 2050, half of the global population will be short-sighted if current trends continue. Oyako aims to solve this issue through its application. Oyako's prototype app uses a simple traffic light design to signify safe or damaging scenarios, intelligently controls the phone camera without compromising battery usage, and is available on the App Store and Google Playstore. Oyako will use the investment to finalise its application and take it to market at £6.99 per download.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£131,641
Aqua British (AB) manufactures and sells premium English spring water in its patented 100% biodegradable water bottles. It asserts that millions of plastic bottles are ending up in landfills. AB aims to be at the forefront of the fight against plastic pollution, offering an alternative to PET, RPet, cartons and cans. It argues that its water bottles, caps and labels are made up of 100% sugarcane residues, are 100% recyclable and 100% compostable. AB also points out that its spring is fully equipped with solar panels to keep carbon emissions neutral. The company supplies water to renowned entities such as Hotel De Paris Monaco, Hotel InterContinental and South Kensington Club, West Ham United Women Football Club, Thermes Marins Monte Carlo, GreenBay Supermarket, and Compass Group Airbus France, amongst others. It will use 80% of the investment towards expanding its brand and distribution inside and outside of the UK, and 20% towards marketing and distribution channels.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£216,195
Common Objective is a global B2B sourcing and information platform that rewards sustainable business through higher search rankings. The company aims at disrupting the $2trillion fashion industry as it has already used by 23k+ fashion professionals who work at leading brands and 1000’s of SME’s, from over 150 countries. The company’s online platform uses personalisation and matching technology to connect buyers with suppliers and provides them with targeted content and tools supporting best practice. The site is used by individuals and teams who work at world-leading brands backed by industry leaders including Roland Mouret, PDS Multinational, and Plexus Cotton.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£462,260
Patch is a modern plant shop for contemporary plant people. It helps in finding the most suitable plants and delivering them to the door. The company has delivered over 2,50,000 plants to over 82,000 customers in Paris and London. Patch has witnessed solid growth at +124% vs last year, reaching £4.48m in revenue. The company has a 4.6-star rating on TrustPilot and, it has been featured in The Times, The Telegraph etc. The funds will be used to expand across Europe, eliminate the middle-man and expand into the B2B market.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£2,412,150
