Sugru raises £3.5m on Crowdcube

Two world records broken: largest single investment of £1m & biggest global reach

Sugru, the world’s first mouldable ‘glue’, closed its crowdfunding campaign on Crowdcube after raising £3,548,820 from 2700 investors. In the process this campaign has smashed two equity crowdfunding records with the largest single investment of £1 million and by having the widest reach with stakeholders in 68 countries. The pitch overfunded 355% above the original target.

The founder and inventor of Sugru, Jane ni Dhulchaointigh, says: “What a great month! The crowdfunding campaign truly reflects most projects at Sugru: hard work, team spirit, customer interaction, loads of fun and a few record breaking moments. I’m incredibly proud of the team at Sugru for all pitching in to help make this campaign a success and, of course, forever humbled by the enormous amount of interest by our existing and new customers alike. Future plans are already in the making thanks to 2700 fabulously wise investors!”

Director of Crowdcube, Matt Cooper, says: “Sugru has led a stonking campaign and the huge number of investors shows how customers want to support a brand they love and how our crowd of nearly 190,000 people are eager to back interesting companies like Sugru. It’s been one of our most popular raises, proving that crowdfunding really does make investing accessible, affordable and rewarding for everyday investors and professionals.”

He adds, “A major element in Sugru’s success is undoubtedly the £1 million stake from one investor who joined our investor community last year. This landmark, plus several million-plus raises recently, demonstrates how crowdfunding has come of age.”

Sugru will use the money to support further expansion into retail outlets across Europe and the USA. An extensive roll out of this unique adhesive is already underway across 4,000 stores at major US retailers including Lowe’s Home Improvement and Target with the number of outlets scheduled to reach 10,000 by December 2015.

Manufactured in East London, Sugru is an adhesive that moulds like play dough, sticks to almost anything and turns into a strong flexible rubber within 24 hours. Forbes described Sugru as “21st century Duct Tape” and this amazing British invention is fast becoming a ‘must-have’ in every household’s kitchen drawer. It has now sold 5 million packs in over 160 countries worldwide and more than 1 million customers use the glue for all kinds of projects from DIY repairs at home through to customising gadgets, appliances and even toys.

Government announce sharing economy Action Group with SEUK

The Government has announced the launch of an Emerging Industry Action Group, focused on the sharing economy, as part of the Productivity Plan announcement made today.

The group will bring together Government departments and Sharing Economy UK ('SEUK') the sharing economy trade body headed up by Debbie Wosskow. Launched in March 2015, founding members of SEUK include Love Home Swap, Airbnb, Task Rabbit, Hassle and ZipCar. 

This is interesting as SEUK will work with Government to identify where regulation is holding back the sharing economy, and oversee delivery of the policies the Chancellor announced in the Spring Budget - things like:

£700,000 for Leeds and Manchester to run Sharing Cities pilots – encouraging individuals and communities to embrace the sharing economy through activities such as office-sharing, car clubs and community hubs – to help drive local growth

Cutting red tape to make it easier for people to share homes and spare rooms through platforms such as Airbnb, Love Home Swap and onefinestay

Encouraging local authorities to apply discounted business rates to shared community workspaces, so as to people to come together to collaborate on business ideas and projects

Opening up the sharing economy to government departments – giving civil servants the chance to book accommodation and travel through sharing economy platforms, where they are cheaper and more convenient than hotels and taxis

This move shows a continued commitment from this Government towards the sharing economy. 

Business Secretary, Sajid Javid said:

“The Government wants to get ahead of the curve and back the game-changing businesses that could hold the key to increasing productivity. The sharing economy has enormous potential and we will continue to scrap  outdated regulations that hold back progress and stop exciting new companies creating jobs. This is all part of our plan to make the UK the best place in Europe to start and grow an innovative business.”
 
Chair of Sharing Economy UK Debbie Wosskow said:
“I’m delighted the Government continues to recognise the potential of the sharing economy and is taking real action to make the UK an attractive destination for sharing companies to innovate and grow. There is still work to do and I hope the emerging industry group can bring lasting benefits to the fast-growing sector and the rest of the UK.”

Third Space Learning announces £1.5m Series-A funding from Ananda – Social Venture Fund, Nesta and existing Angel investors 

Third Space Learning, the provider of online Maths teaching to primary schools in England, last week announced that it had raised £1.5m in Series-A funding from Nesta Impact Investments, Ananda – Social Venture Fund and existing Angel investors, each contributing £500,000 and bringing total funding to £2.5m.

The new funds will be used to accelerate growth in the UK, increase investment in technology, and scale up Third Space’s online teaching centres around the world.

Third Space Learning www.thirdspacelearning.com was founded in 2013 to help address the social attainment gap in UK schools. Third Space uses technology to connect academic talent from around the world to children at risk of failure in primary schools across England. The team of almost 200 Maths teachers and tutors, based in London, India and Sri Lanka, work with over 200 schools, and nearly 2500 students a week, providing online one-to-one support to accelerate what children are learning in class, helping teachers to raise student confidence and attainment in Maths.

“We have worked incredibly hard these last two years to validate what is an ambitious solution to a significant social and academic problem”, said Tom Hooper, Founder and CEO of Third Space Learning. “We are very pleased that the commercial and academic traction we have delivered has won support from a number of very successful Angel investors, and now, two of the leading social impact funds in Europe. The next phase of our business is an exciting one, and we look forward with great confidence.”

“Tom has put together a great team, which, alongside the evidence of their delivery and growth to date, gives me a lot of confidence that they will achieve their long term ambitions” said Charles Prior, Chairman of Third Space and Founder of BPP. “Nesta and SVF are a good fit and will help accelerate Third Space’s growth and performance as the team take the business to the next level.” 

Isabel Newman, Nesta Impact Investment Manager, said “The importance of good numeracy from an early age is well understood, as are the challenges that can arise later on in life for those without it. There is good evidence of one-to-one tuition being an effective way of improving numeracy; however the shortage of specialist Maths teachers and the relatively high cost of tuition can preclude those who need it the most from receiving it. By improving access to quality Maths tuition, Third Space Learning has the potential to improve the lives of thousands of young people. We are delighted to be able to help them grow their offering to many more schools across the country.” 

Lennart Hergel, Investment Director, Ananda – Social Venture Fund, said “Having followed Third Space Learning's progress almost since foundation, Ananda – Social Venture Fund is proud to be supporting an ed-tech business with such a strong social purpose. The vision and drive of the entrepreneur and team assembled is unique in the sector. We believe the combination of this with Nesta and Ananda – Social Venture Fund as institutional investors, will help scale the business strongly and result in even greater social impact and performance, created in parallel.” 

Isabel Newman from Nesta Impact Investments and Lennart Hergel from Ananda – Social Venture Fund will be joining Third Space’s board of directors.