UK PropTech startup Goodlord closes seed round led by Charlotte Street Capital

• Additional funds from influential angel investor Paul Andrew
• Company processing over £ 1 million per month in property transaction fees, integrated with 10% of the real estate software solutions in the UK
• Goodlord to use funds to grow its sales team by 20% and continue to acquire new business

 

Goodlord, the new cloud-based software revolutionising the way property is transacted, announces today that it has raised a seed round for an undisclosed amount led by Charlotte Street Capital, with additional funds from key angel investors.The company will use the funds to address the staggering demand, and to build out its sales teams and grow its business and operations.

 

Since launching in February 2015, Goodlord has experienced spectacular growth in terms of users and fees transacted on the platform. The company is now processing well over £1 million per month in deposits in administrative fees from hundreds of tenants across the UK. To date, Goodlord has integrated with 10% of the country’s real estate software solutions and is signing up new clients every day.

 

“Goodlord has seen an incredible uptake since day one, and with today’s funding round we’re in a position to take the company to its next stage of growth” says co-Founder and CEO Richard White. “Our vision is to revolutionise the way property is transacted, both rentals and sales. The property market is notoriously fragmented and the paperwork is still incredibly slow and inefficient. Goodlord is on a mission to fix that by creating a uniform transaction standard for buyers and renters, and ultimately becoming the transaction gateway for property rentals and purchases.”

 

Goodlord offers a better way to transact property. For estate agents using the technology, the company generates and processes all necessary documents electronically, significantly minimising the time, cost and effort usually required to complete the administrative steps. Similarly, for tenants and landlords, the procedure is streamlined and handled fully online via the Goodlord platform, from contracts and signatures, to reference checks and deposit payments. According to company data, the time required to complete the typical tenancy agreement paperwork is reduced to 15 minutes on the platform, down from an industry average of 4 hours.

 

“Roughly 1.7 million  tenancy agreements are signed across the UK alone every year, in a market that is estimated at £750 million per annum , said Bo Pedersen, Partner at Charlotte Street Capital. “By bringing the entire experience online, Goodlord offers a perfect product-fit to improve the overall process of transacting property. The company has tremendous potential to become a leading player in the property technology market."

 

“Goodlord is well positioned to scale rapidly and to disrupt one of the world’s largest markets,” said Bo Pedersen. “The founders come with a wealth of expertise in the real-estate sector, and the product is already showing the early signs of an industry game-changer. I’m very excited to be working with the Goodlord team and to contribute to accelerating their success.”

                                                               

To date, Goodlord is Europe's fastest growing and largest PropTech startup in terms of total amount of fees transacted, with £6 million in tenancy and deposit fees processed since launch.

 

NuVision becomes first University of Nottingham spinout to receive seed funding from Mercia

 

Mercia Fund Management (MFM), a national fund management business with a focus on the Midlands, North and Scotland, has committed £379,000 in seed funding to NuVision Biotherapies Ltd, a University of Nottingham spinout developing effective and affordable eye care medical solutions for humans and animals.

 

The funding will support the commercialisation of NuVision’s ground-breaking product, Omnigen™, an easy to use, dry, amniotic membrane-derived biological bandage that can be used to treat ocular wounds caused by scratches, blisters and burns, as soon as they occur, as well as more long-term, non-healing persistent defects.  Omnigen is produced using a pioneering manufacturing process called Tereo™, which was developed by the extensive research and expertise of the ophthalmic team at The University of Nottingham.

 

Founded by Professor Harminder Dua, a world-renowned ophthalmologist with over 43 years of clinical experience, and Dr Andrew Hopkinson, Principle Research Fellow in Academic Ophthalmology, NuVision has successfully harnessed the restorative and protective potential of amniotic membrane, the sac surrounding the baby during pregnancy, which is usually discarded at birth.  Market demand for amnion products in the EU alone is valued at €48m per annum.

 

Omnigen, which is the result of 13 years of research, also supported by the British Ministry of Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, has the potential to be widely used on a global scale, to save millions from blindness caused by injury to the cornea.  A dry, sterile Omnigen disc can be glued directly onto the ocular surface during reconstructive surgery, and permanently sutured in position.  Most uniquely, it can also now be used immediately after injury, applied in the emergency room and held in place by a conformer contact lens.  Rapid in vivo rehydration from eye moisture then initiates the release of beneficial amnion constituents, acting quickly to help relieve pain and stabilise the eye injuries of anyone, from a beloved pet, to soldiers on the battlefield.

 

NuVision’s innovative product also eliminates the problems inherent in using frozen amniotic membrane, which is unsuitable for emergency dispatch, loses its potency during the thawing process, and must be used within 48 hours.  The flexible, dry and stable design means that Omnigen can be uniquely stored on the shelf at every hospital, or carried in the field in ambulances and first aid kits and used whenever it is needed.  It is also of a consistently high quality, helping to quickly and effectively treat the 120,000 corneal injuries that occur each year in the UK alone.

 

NuVision is now based in Medicity, the UK’s rapidly-expanding innovation hub for consumer healthcare, medical technology, diagnostics and beauty products on the Boots UK site in Nottingham. 

 

Peter Dines, Investment Director and Head of Life Sciences at Mercia Fund Management, said:

 

“NuVision is the perfect example of the potential that university spinouts have in the UK – a great team, innovating research and a product set to revolutionise ophthalmic care worldwide are just a few of the reasons why we chose to back NuVision with seed funding.  We look forward to supporting them as they begin to commercialise Omnigen and the Tereo process.”

 

Dr Andrew Hopkinson, Chief Executive of NuVision Biotherapies, said:

 

“We are grateful to Mercia for this investment, and we look forward especially to working with Peter Dines, who has extensive experience working with businesses in the life sciences sector.

 

“With a strong, experienced team, plus a pipeline of innovative products coming from The University of Nottingham, NuVision has endless potential for growth!”

 

Dr George Baxter, Director of Business Engagement and Innovation Services at The University of Nottingham, added:

 

“I am very pleased that Mercia has invested in NuVision and will help to take the company to the next stage of its development.  NuVision’s ground-breaking Omnigen product, which is based on technology developed at the University of Nottingham, has huge potential in the treatment of ocular injuries.  There has already been a significant amount of interest in the product around the world from both veterinary and human ophthalmologists who can see the tremendous potential of Omnigen.”

 

 

Powered Now Turns to Crowdcube for Second Time to Raise £350k

 

Investment from the crowd will drive adoption of mobile app to help tradesmen with an admin headache

 

Teignmouth, Devon – 28 July 2015: Devon-based tech start-up, Powered Now, announces the launch of its second investment pitch on Crowdcube, the world’s largest equity crowdfunding platform. Aiming to raise £350,000 from the crowd, the pitch is open to anyone interested in supporting Powered Now’s disruptive technology. It will use the capital for marketing and further development of its award-winning mobile business administration apps for small firms of trades people, such as builders, plumbers and electricians.

 

The pitch

 

Powered Now is looking to secure a minimum of £350,000 on Crowdcube in return for 10.8% equity. The money will both scale up the already successful marketing strategy and allow further product development. This is the second round on Crowdcube after a highly successful raise of £585,000 in the summer of 2014.

 

The team of ten people are based in the UK and Hungary and has been developing the technology for the past three years.

 

“We chose Crowdcube because it's very accessible, being open to anyone who wants to get involved with innovative and disruptive businesses like ours,” says Chris Barling, Powered Now’s co-founder. “Like last time, we think the public will be keen on investing as so many use tradesmen and know how they can struggle to get quotes out quickly. The campaign will also help Powered Now get the message out through a crowd of enthusiastic ambassadors, so it’s all very exciting for us.”

 

The app

 

Powered Now is a mobile admin application aimed at sole traders and small firms of plumbers, electricians, builders, and the like, who are mostly in the field at customers’ premises and working from vans rather than offices. They often struggle with paperwork and payment which wastes time, and therefore money.

 

The app runs on iPads, iPhones and Android smartphones and tablets. It computerises administrative tasks including customer communication, diary management, quoting, invoicing and taking payment by card or PayPal. It works for both independent tradesmen and companies with employees. All information is held in one place and automatically backed up to the cloud whenever there is a connection, so even if you damage or lose your device, you can download the data to the replacement.

 

In 2013, it won Microsoft Bizspark best mobile app; in 2014 Powered Now was Crowdcube’s Start-up of the Year; and in 2015 it has been featured as an Apple best new business app.

 

Over 30,000 users worldwide have downloaded and registered their details with the app.

 

“The field trade industry is one of the last to see the real benefits of the computer revolution,” says Benjamin Dyer, CEO and co-founder of Powered Now. “And this is despite the fact that there are around 950,000 such businesses operating in the UK alone. By providing our apps to help these companies and individuals manage their paperwork we have already demonstrated that we can make them more productive and profitable.”

 

What is equity crowdfunding?

 

Equity crowdfunding provides an alternative to banks and angels for start-ups and early-stage businesses seeking finance. Investors can put in anything from £10 upwards and they get shares in exchange for their investment. In 2013 Kevin McCloud’s Hab Housing project was the first business in the construction sector to use equity crowdfunding and it hit the headlines by raising over £1.6 million on Crowdcube.

 

ShopKeep receives $60m in Series D Funding to enter UK market

 

iPad-based Point-of-Sale system provider prioritises Britain in international expansion

 

ShopKeep today announces its launch in the UK market following a $60m Series D round of fundraising. The cloud-based iPad Point-of-Sale (PoS) provider that targets small independent retail and restaurant businesses will use this injection of capital to aggressively grow its international presence, starting with the UK.

 

The company’s entry into Britain and Ireland and hire of Christophe Delacroix, the founder of a major UK epos reseller, will mark the start of intense international competition for the UK EPOS market. Big differences between UK and US payment systems have been a barrier to entry for US-based EPOS providers but, with the latter adopting EMV (Chip and Pin) and Apple Pay recently launched in the UK, that barrier has now been removed.

 

A number of US iPad payments firms look likely to focus on the UK in the coming months with the market acknowledged as the next prime target for the wider rollout of iPad payments systems. When they arrive competition is expected to be as aggressive as anything seen in the US. With 41% of UK SMEs using Windows based systems, 37% using electronic cash registers and only 4% utilising iPad PoS systems, there is a considerable commercial opportunity.

 

ShopKeep is one of the leading cloud-based technology and business management solutions and is used by 18,000 independent merchants in the US. Led by Activant Capital, with support from existing investors, ShopKeep has raised $97.2M in funding since it was launched in 2008 by a small business owner. It has cemented its position as not only the go-to point-of-sale and payment technology provider for independent businesses, but also as a comprehensive operating system, a platform offering customer marketing, inventory and staff management, back-end reporting and detailed analytics. The latest funding will allow it to focus on doing the same for independent UK businesses.

 

In 2015, Shopkeep has already experienced substantial growth, including:

 

•     The strategic acquisition of Payment Revolution and subsequent launch of ShopKeep Payments, a customisable, contract-free payment solution for merchants seeking one centralised system
•     138% YoY growth (monthly recurring revenue) through June 2015
•     More than $5bn in transactions processed through ShopKeep’s network in the past year
•     Accelerated merchant adoption rates with more than 1,000 new merchants being added each month

 

“From the moment I founded this company in the back of my grocery store in 2008, we’ve worked towards one objective - making independent retailers and restaurateurs more successful. We now provide a one-stop-shop for merchants looking for cutting edge technology and 24/7 personal customer service,” remarked Jason Richelson, ShopKeep Founder and seasoned retailer. 

 

“With this funding we’re looking to fundamentally change how small businesses are run in the UK. We’re essentially becoming an affordable IT department for the small business owner, democratising access to the kind of technology and data that used to be the preserve of big corporates. Ultimately this means merchants are able to run more efficient operations. Companies of this size are the backbone of Britain’s economy and we want to deliver them the tools required to thrive in the current climate. The future of independent retail and hospitality in the UK and Ireland is bright and we want to play a big part in it.”

 

"This is a crucial time for the mobile payments and small business technology sectors - both are evolving at a rapid pace and competition amongst the major players is heating up. ShopKeep is at the forefront of this evolution and is offering the most comprehensive and forward thinking solution for growing businesses, combined with unmatched customer care," said Steve Sarracino, founder of Activant Capital.

 

"We see tremendous opportunity for the company to build on its existing success as the operating system for small business and retail, and rise above the noise to cement its position as the industry leader in this space.”