Charm is a peer-to-peer impact investment platform that allows a user to use his/her investments to drive positive change in the world while earning a financial return. Morgan Stanley estimates that 85% of people are interested in sustainable investing. Charm enables individuals to fund projects led by high-impact entrepreneurs selling clean energy solutions in developing economies. Users can view their investments on the company's transparent, personalised impact investment dashboard, as well as, earn social, environmental and financial bottom line returns for their contributions. The company secured a £496,000 grant funding to develop its platform, refine its offering & provide growth capital. It is in the process of becoming an appointed representative of a Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) authorised entity post this funding round. It will use the investment to expand its team, develop its platform, and raise brand awareness.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£273,720
Zone V makes the latest tablets and smartphones work for the older generation with low eyesight, deficient hearing or dexterity. The company has redefined a global platform that is providing access to the services that are difficult to use. They have a technological partnership with Samsung and are a Samsung Managed Solutions Partner. The company also creates inclusively accessible technology, services, and applications for more smoother and viable communication. The executive team of this company includes health, telecoms, and wellness fields. With the proceeds, Zone V will widen the digital divide for the older smartphones users by working tirelessly to build new innovative communication solutions.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£500,000
DMALINK aims to create a transparent and accessible currency market for banks, funds, and corporations. The company asserts that the Foreign Exchange (FX) market is the world's largest and most liquid financial market, recording an average daily trading volume of $6.6 Trillion but is fraught with imperfect price movements. DMALINK aims to address this situation. Its portal utilises big data and analytics solutions to enable users to make better trading decisions. It also offers users access to 63 currency pair combinations. DMALINK also points out that its clients have chosen its services over 316,000 times with the company witnessing an average deal size of $585,000 and earning revenue worth $3,140,000. The company has featured in Business Insider, Yahoo Finance, and FX Markets to name a few. DMALINK will use 60% of the investment on salaries for existing and new team members allowing global growth, 20% towards marketing and sales efforts, and 20% towards technology expansion.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£425,903
Nextfin is an FCA approved aggregation and rating portal for equity and debt crowdfunding investments.
AIM is shrinking, legacy stock markets are too expensive to maintain and do not serve the requirements of SMEs, banks are closing branches, lending less and are paying little or no interest to investors. As a result of this, there is a huge growth in equity crowdfunding and P2P lending which has seen the launch of hundreds of alternative lenders & platforms that has created a new c.£3bn marketplace, expanding at 66% p.a. There is no single portal or trusted ratings index for investors to compare on a like for like basis and no secondary market to facilitate exits.
* NextFin is the new trading name of Business Agent Ltd
The solution
NextFin aggregates equity and debt crowdfunding investments to create the alternative finance marketplace. This makes it easy for investors and lenders to find and compare opportunities by presenting all investment offerings in one place. With the addition of a free of charge ratings service investors will be able to view ratings of every equity crowdfunding pitch, every P2P site, and every equity crowdfunding site. NextFin’s technology will constantly track these companies and investments providing the investor real-time intelligence on which to base investment decisions. The platforms and entrepreneurs will be self-promoting and marketing their ratings driving thousands of visitors a month to the NextFin site, in the same way, businesses refer their potential clients to Trip Advisor and Trustpilot. There is an estimated 10 million website/platform visitors per month across the whole of the alternative finance market. NextFin is targeting to direct 5% of this highly profiled traffic to its platform from which it will earn between £5-£8 per click from advertisers and partners. In addition, an in-house brokerage service also earns between 1%-6% commissions on loan placements. A future revenue stream (not featured in the financials) will be developed once visitor traffic reaches critical mass. This will see Nextfin being able to realise the full value of its captured ratings data and visitor traffic by launching a secondary market, which is estimated to be a £5bn marketplace.
NextFin is raising £500k at a pre-money valuation of £2M to: • Develop P2P and Equity site ratings• Expand the management, infrastructure and marketing resource• Increase visitor traffic to 6m a year via rating referrals
Owing to the size of the market and rapid growth of the industry, enterprise valuations in alternative finance are based on visitor traffic, market share and registered users. Recently published valuations of companies with visitor traffic of over 6m per year are in excess of £70m. NextFin is the market-leading aggregator and has first-mover advantage. It has the potential to exceed these valuations because it is the whole of the market aggregator and is currently the only ratings service provider as it grows to achieve 500,000 visitors p.m.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£274,057
The Pension Lab offers an interative platform for employees and individuals, helping them reconnect and engage with their pensions. Its mission is to provide the customers with better knowledge of pensions and promote long-term financial decision making. The company has reached the finals of 'Pitchfest' competition held at the NEC as a component of “Venturefest”, and it is also a finalist in the “Innovation in Business” category. Some of the best Fintech solutions providers and pension services such as Yodlee and Origo are in partnership with the Pension Lab. With the proceeds, the company will develop its working capital, infrastructure development, and customer acquisition.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£38,024
NOQ aims to solve the issue of queuing at events by digitising the process and bringing increased sales and profit for event management companies, coupled with data-driven insights. It aspires to capture the UK market share through partnerships with event management companies, food concession groups, PoS (Point of Sale) systems, and WiFi providers. NOQ offers a three-step solution for event-goers namely, pre-order ahead of time, click and collect or deliver to a location within the event. The company also claims that it provides a bespoke solution specific to suit the needs of each event and ensure seamless execution of the same. NOQ has overseen transactions worth £275,000+ on its platform, onboarded 13,000+ active users across iOS and Android, and covered 190+ events in 2020. It will use the investment for hiring key personnel, marketing and operational expenditures.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£214,393
Darqube is a comprehensive platform for smarter investing. The company aims to equip finance enthusiasts, novice traders, and professionals with financial technology instruments, trading analytics, and algorithmic trading tools to hasten investment decisions. The company has multiple financial products on its platform like forex, mutual funds, cryptocurrency, and bonds. In 2019, the company launched 'Terminal', a comprehensive trading analytics platform. The year 2020 saw the company launch 'TradeLab Beta', an algorithmic trading platform, and 'Messenger', a messaging platform tailored to the needs of finance enthusiasts. Darqube has 5000 monthly active users and 75,000+ community followers. The company has also been featured in prominent publications like Business Insider, Yahoo Finance, and Marketwatch. The company will use 40% of the investment towards growth and user acquisition, 25% for product improvement, 25% for team expansion, and 10% as operating costs.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£461,811
Founded by Glen Elliot, 2005 in the early days of the professional video gaming industry, Esports Gaming League (EGL) has since helped shape esports into a fast-growing phenomenon. The brand aims to be at the forefront of esports starting in Europe before expanding globally into Asia, South America, and the Middle East. It has worked with clients such as KFC, Science Museum, Activision among other brands. The esports industry is valued at $1.1 billion globally for 2019, and EGL has positioned itself to be at the heart of it. The platform has 315,000 registered users engaging in regular tournaments online. With the funds raised, EGL aims to enhance its tournament platform and make the process of playing and competing easier. It will also work with major game developers across multiple platforms and make their titles esportable.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£189,540
Husky is the UK’s only open, SaaS platform for workplace pensions. For employers, the platform deals with legal and compliance burdens of auto-enrolment while helping reduce pension costs. For individuals and company directors, the app is instrumental in bringing profitable and responsible investments with the Husky for Everyone app. And for advisers and accountants, it ensures strong client relationships amidst transparency and efficiency. Close to 1.4 million employers & 22.6 million workers are affected by the UK’s automatic enrolment (AE) legislation. Within this market, a conservative estimate of fees charged on employees by pension providers is £2 billion a year; Husky aims to disrupt this market & is ready to scale. Its method of operation has led to it achieving important milestones. With more than 1000 firms onboarded, a 92% renewal rate, and an average annual fee of £438, Husky charges its onboarded firms (including Crowdcube) with monthly recurring fees laid out as part of a 3-year subscription model. With the funds received, the company aims to disrupt the relatively stagnant workplace pensions industry with innovative products and empower its customers.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£417,338
Equipsme is on a mission to democratise health insurance by making it affordable for businesses of all sizes. The company cites data arguing that there has been a 53% increase in National Health Service (NHS) treatment waiting lists since 2012 due to the low reach of health insurance by conventional insurance companies. It aims to change this scenario. Equipsme offers flexible fixed-price packages to companies wherein employees are allowed to upgrade and add family members to their plan as per their pleasure. Members can also speak to a General Physician (GP) 24/7, and, if necessary, be referred to a consultant for diagnosis and treatment through the company's proprietary app. The company was felicitated with the 'Best New Product' award by Cover Magazine Excellence Awards 2019. The company will use the investment to enhance its user experience, ensure its technology remains market-leading, and scale its marketing and customer service capability.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£286,096
