Here are all the companies that hit their crowdfunding target in October

Companies looking to crowdfund can get tips on how to position their product to investors with our handy list.

Seedrs is one of the most prominent equity crowdfunding platforms in the UK and has financed businesses to the tune of over £400 million since its launch. Here, we look at the companies that met their target on the platform in October 2018.

TruRating:

 

How much raised: £1,852,611

Number of investors: 356

Who are the investors: Investors on crowdfunding site Seedrs

For what: The money raised will be used to help achieve its break-even point in 2019

  • TruRating is revolutionising consumer insight, using point of sale to collect mass, accurate feedback
  • Uses both an in-store and online point of payment to ask every customer a single question
  • Achieve 90 per cent response rates in-store, and 50 per cent online
  • Collected 38 million ratings and 2bn data points from over 2,000 merchant outlets in 6 countries
  • Raised £21 million in investment to date

Smarterly:

 

How much raised: £1,602,400

Number of investors: 535

Who are the investors: Investors on crowdfunding site Seedrs

For what: The money raised will be used to accelerate sales and marketing activities

  • Smarterly is helping people save and invest directly from payroll
  • Promoting the benefits of healthy savings habits via people’s employers
  • Employers promote Smarterly as an employee benefit – staff can save directly from their pay
  • Automated service
  • Now have over 25 corporate clients engaged, including Samsung, OVO Energy and Rolls Royce Engineering

Welendus:

 

How much raised: £993,104

Number of investors: 540

Who are the investors: Investors on crowdfunding site Seedrs

For what: The money raised will be spent on adding new operational team members and continued development to add new functions

  • Welendus is a P2P short-term lender shaking up the short-term credit market
  • FCA approved
  • Offers short-term loans of about 100 days
  • Helping financial inclusion
  • Investors are able to choose their own returns from 5 per cent to 15 per cent
  • Minimum investment threshold of £100
  • Business is live, trading and revenue generating
  • Over 13,000 users and 850 issued loans
  • Funded over £200,000 of short-term loans

Further reading on crowdfunding

ManiLife:

 

How much raised: £744,727

Number of investors: 442

Who are the investors: Investors on crowdfunding site Seedrs

For what: The money raised will primarily be used to expand the team

  • A craft peanut butter brand focused on masterfully roasting and blending the best peanuts
  • Comes from one farm in Argentina, with no added products
  • Once imported, the team roast, blitz and blend fresh weekly in their London ManiFactory
  • Sold in over 1,200 stores
  • Stocked in many renowned high street retailers – this includes Holland & Barrett, Marks & Spencer, Booths, Selfridges with many more to come including Ocado
  • Food service partnerships that will feed ManíLife to roughly 750,000 people/year – this includes Gousto, HelloFresh, Mindful Chef, CrossTown Doughnuts, Mae Deli and Pod Restaurants
  • Winner of 2 Quality Food Awards including a ‘Gold Q’ for ‘Best in Ambient’=

Tagsmart:

 

How much raised: £504,133

Number of investors: 296

Who are the investors: Investors on crowdfunding site Seedrs

For what: The money raised will be spent on launching an online trading platform for trusted art

  • Tagsmart is the company behind the pioneering application of synthetic DNA tags to authenticate artworks
  • Generate Certificates of Authenticity, which resolve recurring problems of fraud, forgery and loss
  • As of May 2018 had over 23,000 artworks on the platform from nearly 250 artists
  • Only 8 per cent of the global art market is online
  • Now building a trading platform that enable buys to buy and sell verified artworks
  • Featured in the 2017 Deloitte Art & Finance Report

Trezeo:

 

How much raised: £465,854

Number of investors: 344

Who are the investors: Investors on crowdfunding site Seedrs

For what: The money raised will be primarily used primarily to onboard and service initial pilot customers and partners

  • New fintech startup focused on delivering financial stability to self-employed workers
  • Helping out the gig economy
  • Trezeo is a business account aimed at the self-employed providing customers with a regular, defined income
  • Trezeo’s income smoothing service turns unpredictable income streams into reliable and regular payments, with no interest or hidden fees involved
  • However, time and time again, the key challenge facing the self-employed is uncertainty around security of income and fluctuating earnings, which have wider financial implications around savings and accessing financial products, most notably getting access to affordable credit

Maison Sport:

 

How much raised: £408,839

Number of investors: 96

Who are the investors: Investors on crowdfunding site Seedrs

For what: The money raised will primarily be used to impact customer retention and word of mouth revenues

  • Maison Sport is a marketplace connecting skiers with independent ski instructors – a next generation ski school
  • Available in over 130 ski resorts across France, Switzerland and Italy
  • Customers can choose an instructor based on real reviews, whilst saving 50 per cent on the lesson price
  • Over 350 instructors signed up and live
  • Nominated for the 2017 World Travel Awards Travel Innovation Award

Candy Mechanics:

 

How much raised: £408,650

Number of investors: 240

Who are the investors: Investors on crowdfunding site Seedrs

For what: The money raised will be used to fuel expansion through partnering with major chocolate brands

  • Candy Mechanics is partnering with chocolate brands to bring 3D personalised chocolate gifts to market
  • Consumers can now design and fist their own chocolate creations
  • Offers partners the opportunity to enter the fast growing personalised gifting marketing place both online and in store
  • Lead product is a 3D chocolate lollipop of a face created in a few minutes
  • Also produces luxury chocolate gift cards

Fancy Dress Worldwide:

 

How much raised: £313,557

Number of Investors: 203

Who are the investors: Investors on crowdfunding site Seedrs

For what: The money raised will be primarily raised to grow stock and purchase crucial equipment

  • Fancy Dress Worldwide aims to provide customers with the best quality costumes and accessories via the fastest shipping possible
  • Over 380,000 orders
  • Orders from over 80 countries
  • 20,000 products
  • Revenues of £1.76 million
  • Founded by the man behind the Fancy Fresher pack

ARION:

 

How much raised: £264,037

Number of investors: 596

Who are the investors: Investors on crowdfunding site Seedrs

For what: The money raised will be used to initiate its next product batch and to expand its marketing focus into the US

  • ARION is the next-generation wearable that helps runners improve their technique to run faster, longer and safer
  • Ultra-thin pressure-sensitive insoles slip unnoticed into almost any running show, and transforms it into a running lab
  • ARION’s AI coach analyses technique and identifies strengths, weaknesses and injury risks
  • Easy to understand real-time feedback
  • Sold more than 1,000 unites in 1st year of launching

The Brook:

 

How much raised: £169,484

Number of investors: 293

Who are the investors: Investors on crowdfunding site Seedrs

For what: The money raised will be used to set up a production kitchen and develop the product

  • The Brook makes plant-based delicious and nutritionally rich meals for the health-conscious
  • Creators of a number of vegan restaurants
  • Now looking to launch a range of ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook meals
  • Voted as the 2018 Time Out Best Restaurant in Hackney
  • More than 5 years experience serving thousands of customers

Michael Somerville

Uriel Beer

Michael was senior reporter for GrowthBusiness.co.uk from 2018 to 2019.

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