Some of the most successful fundraising campaigns on Seedrs have been achieved by startups founded by women. We want to celebrate their amazing entrepreneurial achievements by highlighting their incredible journeys and accomplishments. Here is the Seedrs list of top 10 most successful capital raises by startups founded by a woman entrepreneur.
10. Prue Freeman’s Daisy Green (£2.31m)
Prue Freeman is bringing Melbourne’s world renowned coffee and food culture to the UK. Before founding The Daisy Green Collection, Prue had a successful career in investment banking at UBS in Sydney. Her work eventually brought her to London, where in 2012 she entered London’s street food scene with just a couple of ice cream trucks and tricycles. The move wasn’t arbitrary, as Prue had a love for cooking and food that went back to her early childhood, when she was growing up on her family farm in the state of Victoria. The Daisy Green Collection’s modern Australian style and high quality food quickly stood out, growing to numerous cafes and restaurants in landmark locations. The Seedrs community clearly had an appetite for Prue’s Australian cafes, as the company ended up raising over £2.31m from 324 investors. Learn more about the Daisy Green Collection’s campaign.
9. Uma Rajah’s CapitalRise (£2.34m)
After a decade of experience in the FinTech sector, Uma Rajah co-founded CapitalRise in 2016. CapitalRise’s online platform connects retail investors with property borrowers, democratising access to prime property developments in London and helping developers meet their funding needs. The company is disrupting a market that was traditionally only available to extremely high net worth individuals. For her work on CapitalRise, Uma was ranked 19 in the Financial Times’ 30 UK female entrepreneurs to watch. It’s unsurprising that CapitalRaise ended up raising over £2.34 million from 723 Seedrs investors. Learn more about CapitalRise’s campaign.
8. Sharon Pursey’s SafeToNet (£2.52m)
SafeToNet is a cyber-safety company co-founded by Sharon Pursey OBE. The company has developed artificial intelligence to safeguard children against online threats such as cyber bullying, grooming, aggression or graphic imagery. Their patented technology gives children and parents real-time guidance as issues appear. Sharon is an entrepreneur through and through, having founded several successful businesses throughout her career. For her work on SafeToNet she has won the Rising Star Award, the Tech for Good Award of the Year, and received an OBE in the New Year’s Honours List 2021. SafeToNet clearly impressed investors as they ended up raising over £2.52 million from 136 Seedrs investors. Learn more about SafeToNet’s campaign.
7. Tina Stenzel’s PropertyLoop (£2.53m)
Asset and property management is in Tina Stenzel’s DNA. Growing up, she was often brought along to property viewings and mortgage meetings by her parents. It’s only natural that she ended up co-founding PropertyLoop, a technology company that is setting its sights on becoming the world’s largest property rental platform. PropertyLoop connects landlords, tenants, and independent rental experts, resulting in a super app in which all parties can manage everything, from finding a home or tenant to staying compliant with landlord duties, in one central place. The Seedrs community took the opportunity to invest, resulting in a raise of over £2.53 million from 450 investors. Learn more about PropertyLoop’s campaign.
6. Verity Bowditch’s Clean Kitchen Club (£2.75m)
Clean Kitchen Club was co-founded by Made in Chelsea star and Instagram influencer (167k followers) Verity Bowditch. Having been a vegetarian her whole life, she decided to go fully vegan after learning about the terrible impact of the meat industry on animals and the environment. Leveraging her following and talent for content creation, she is responsible for Clean Kitchen Club’s powerful social media marketing performance. Clean Kitchen Club got the Seedrs community excited about the plant-based revolution, leading to a raise over £2.75 million from 566 investors. Learn more about Clean Kitchen Club’s campaign.
5. Louise Birritteri’s Pikl (£2.82m)
Founded by Louise Birritteri, Pikl is an InsurTech company that specialises in insurance for the sharing economy. Louise has a background in mathematics and has had an illustrious career in the insurance industry for 20 years, heading positions such as the Head of Pricing at Sainsbury’s Bank. Louise came up with the idea for Pikl whilst staying at an Airbnb. She realised that thousands of people renting out their homes or sharing their rides are unknowingly not covered by their traditional insurances. The Pikl platform now helps participants in the sharing economy find the perfect insurance match for their specific needs. With InsurTech being an incredibly hot sector for investors, it’s no surprise that Pikl’s campaign ended up raising over £2.82 million from 774 Seedrs investors. Learn more about Pikl’s campaign.
We sat down to interview Louise Birritteri last year. Read her Meet the Founder.
4. Gemma Colao’s OTO CBD (£2.85m)
OTO CBD is a science-backed wellness company founded by UAL graduate Gemma Colao. Gemma was working a high-stress job in the fashion industry, when her experiences with CBD changed her life by reducing her anxiety and improving her mood, skin, and sleep. The company now delivers market-leading spa treatments and wellness retreats to luxury destinations globally. OTO CBD also develops vegan and environmentally friendly CBD-based cosmetic products, selling directly to consumers and through premium retailers like Harrods. The Seedrs community jumped on the opportunity to join a leader in the new and exciting CBD wellness market, as OTO CBD raised over £2.85 million from 310 investors. Learn more about OTO CBD’s campaign.
3. Julie Chen’s The Cheeky Panda (£3.65m)
Julie Chen moved to the UK from China 15 years ago and is now the CEO of the rocketing sustainable bamboo-based wellness brand The Cheeky Panda. She founded the company with her husband after visiting a local factory that made bamboo-based tissues and wipes during a family visit to China in 2016. Since then, the company has seen explosive growth, with its bamboo toilet paper and tissues stocked in some of the biggest UK retailers. With even their packaging being plastic-free, the company is B Corp certified. For her work on The Cheeky Panda, Julie was ranked 18 on the Financial Times’ 30 UK female entrepreneurs to watch and won Business Woman of the Year at the MSDUK Awards 2021. The Cheeky Panda’s story and accomplishments impressed investors so much that it resulted in a raise of over £3.65 million from 1974 Seedrs investors. Learn more about The Cheeky Panda’s campaign.
2. Amy Williams’ Good-Loop (£4.51m)
Amy Williams is on a mission to turn advertising from something that’s considered a nuisance, to a force of good in the world. That’s why she founded Good-Loop in 2016. Two years later, Amy was on Forbes’ 30 Under 30 Europe 2018. Good-Loop is giving control to the viewer by letting them turn their time watching an ad into a charitable donation. At the same time, advertisers using Good-Loop have seen engagement, ad recall, and brand-love grow significantly. Because Good-Loop is turning advertising into a positive force for society and the environment, it is the first ever AdTech company to be certified B Corp. With all of these amazing achievements, it’s unsurprising that Good-Loop ended up raising over £4.51 million from 262 Seedrs investors. Learn more about Good-Loop’s campaign.
1. Jayne-Anne Gadhia’s Snoop (£10m)
To say that Dame Jayne-Anne Gadhia has had an incredible career in finance would be an understatement. She was the former CEO of Virgin Money, during which time she was awarded a CBE in 2014 and a DBE in 2019. In 2019, Jayne-Anne founded Snoop, a company that helps people better manage their finances by bringing together their bank accounts and credit cards in one free-to-use app. By leveraging artificial intelligence and data, the app then gives each user fully tailor-made suggestions on how to spend smarter and save better. With Snoop’s founding team and app, and Seedrs portfolio company Revolut becoming one of the biggest FinTech success stories in recent history, it’s unsurprising that the company ended up raising over £10 million from 1712 Seedrs investors. This puts Snoop’s capital raise not just at number 1 on this list, but makes it the 4th most successful primary Seedrs campaign of all time. Learn more about Snoop’s campaign.
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