Aardvark is a company that manufactures dry kibbles for dogs and cats using insects as the source of protein. It has partnered with VC backed insect farm NextProtein. The company claims that its products meet the nutritional needs of pets while creating a smaller environmental footprint than pet food that uses animal meat. It also asserts that insect protein is endorsed by the British Veterinary Association. The company has developed its kibbles to be grain-free, consist of seaweed and other natural ingredients with no fillers. The UK pet food market is poised to grow to £2.9 billion in 2020, and the company aims to be a sustainable manufacturer in this segment. The company requires investment to assist in manufacturing its first batch of pet food, help market its products to pet owners across the UK, and expand into Europe by 2021 and the U.S by 2024.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£300,290
An artificially intelligent web-based app for stock market investors to potentially increase their returns. Butterwire's platform aims to solve three common challenges more than 1 million UK investors face: finding high-return opportunities, minimising risk and being aware of sudden market fluctuations.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
Withheld
A rapidly growing printing, merchandising and clothing brand with customers including Google, Amazon and Nike. Awesome Merchandise produce all their products in-house and ship internationally. The company has created over 65 million items for more than 70,000 customers and have been in profit every year. Investment will help to build a new factory based in Austin, TX, USA and to create US and European websites.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£654,870
A compliance service allowing financial organisations to benchmark their businesses against legal regulations. Model Office integrates with existing infrastructures to identify issues in a firm's due diligence records. The service then offers guidance, strategies, solutions and resources to ensure the business is fully compliant with regulations. In addition, firms can also run the software on clients to confirm they also meet FCA and ICO rules as a safety and insurance measure.
Model Office offers multiple versions of their products for customers with particular needs for a recurring monthly subscription. A full version consists of the benchmarking and audit tools, whilst an Enterprise adds an AI chat bot for further assistance, amongst many other features.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£150,000
East London Liquor Company (ELLC) has been distilling, importing and serving gins, whiskies, vodkas, rums, and canned cocktails since 2014. ELLC asserts that off-trade gin sales hit US$8.4 billion in 2020 with UK seltzer sales expected to reach £75 million by 2023. It intends to become a contender in the aforementioned categories. ELLC has had a 600% Year-on-Year (YoY) increase to £206,000 in off-trade sales from 2019-2020 to 2020-2021. The company has partnered with the UNESCO world heritage site, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, to release its product, Kew Gin. It has also entered into the Ready-To-Drink and seltzer categories with its range of canned drinks, and onboarded retailers like Waitrose, Tesco, and Co-Op. The company will use the investment to grow its off-trade channels both in the UK and abroad, expand its Direct To Consumer (DTC) output, update its 'Brand Home' to attract more customers, and increase its whisky production to meet demand.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£921,686
Arro Money is a fast-growing money management company engaged in managing your money in a straightforward manner. Unlike traditional banking institutions, Arro uses exclusive technology that enables straightforward and hassle-free financial services. Through simple application, you can open personal or business accounts and manage your funds. Despite a few early-stage hiccups, the company has successfully opened over 42,000 accounts.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£567,540
Fix Radio is the UK's first commercial radio station targeted at tradespeople. They will be initially highly targeted towards the London market of 650,000 tradespeople before expanding nationwide. Currently there is £30 million spent annually on radio advertising targeted at this market.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£269,000
Aguulp innovates and curates liquid formulas using liposomal technology. The company asserts that vitamins in pill form have an absorption rate as low as 5% which is further eaten by stomach acid upon consumption before a person gets a chance to absorb it. Agullp aims to resolve this. Its product, NutriProtect, shields nutrients from corrosive stomach acid and helps 98% of nutrients reach the small intestine for absorption. The company estimates that over 3 million people in the UK and more than 10 per cent of the world’s population is malnourished for a variety of reasons, including environmental pollution, unhealthy diets and stressful lifestyles that block nutrient absorption and compound deficiencies. Aguulp aims to change this with its product line that includes Aguulp for Gut, Aguulp for Brain, and Aguulp for Immunity. The company will use 55.6% of the investment for marketing purposes, 44.2% for paying their staff, and 0.2% as other expenses.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£317,993
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
Clim8 is a financial technology company that aims to move billions of pounds of investment into sectors such as clean energy, clean technology, sustainable food, smart mobility, and recycling. It is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The company quotes United Nations data arguing that the World needs to invest $2.4 trillion every year into clean energy, from now until 2035, to meet climate change targets. Clim8 aims to capitalise on this objective. It launched its app on iOS and Android in private beta in October 2020 and then in the App Store in March 2021. It claims that its users have invested from £25 up to £97,000. The company has raised £5 million in venture capital to date, secured up to £2 million in airtime for equity from Channel 4 Ventures, and garnered a 4.8 star rating in the App Store, from a cumulative 100 reviews. The company will use the investment to accelerate user acquisition and launch new product offerings including pensions.
days to go:
Expired
investment:
£2,849,790
