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As we head into summer, and the UK begins its return to normalcy, there is a lot to be excited about in the world of venture capital. From fintech, to retail to ecommerce, businesses are quickly getting back on their feet post-crisis and many have made significant strides in the way of growth, fundraising, product development and strategic hires.
Every month, we aggregate three promising investment opportunities with sharelots available for purchase on the Secondary Market, to ensure you don’t miss the chance to buy equity in the European startups gaining traction in their markets.
These startups are on our July watch-list:
2021 has been the biggest year on record for investment in fintech, and UK-based firms are cementing their position at the centre of European financial innovation. Among those is insurtech Wrisk, which just completed its Series A funding round of £4.6M, led by QBN Capital, with participation from investors Guinness Asset Management and Cell Rising Capital. Despite the impacts of the Covid-19 crisis, Wrisk reported 36% quarter-on-quarter growth in new policy binds.
Prior to securing Series A funding, Wrisk had rolled out its first car insurance service for BMW/MINI as their sole UK motor insurance partner. By the end of February 2019, they had over 4,000 customers and more than £1.8 million in gross written premium. Maintaining focus on the automotive sector, Wrisk also recently announced a new partnership with RAC, to launch a new car insurance offering on a pay-by-mile subscription basis. The partnership allows users to track their mileage through their device in real-time, ensuring they only evet pay for the miles they drive. This marks yet another innovation by Wrisk that separates it from other insurance operators which charge drivers based on estimates and don’t pay out refunds for distances below that threshold. They’re also in discussion with several global manufacturers interested in deploying the Wrisk platform to their customers across the UK and EU.
Wrisk is live on the Secondary Market now, at an indicative valuation of £21.2M. There are limited sharelots available for purchase, starting at £2.41. View shares and updates here.
🗞️ Wrisk In the News
➤ UK’s Wrisk picks up £4.6M Series A – PitchBook
➤ Wrisk partners with RAC to offer Pay by Mile subscription car insurance – InformationAge
➤ DIA TOP 100 The Insurtechs to Watch in 2021 – DIA
➤ Announced! TechRound’s Insurtech Finalists for 2021 – TechRound
*According to Wrisk’s May 2021 Investor Update
People in every corner of the globe are itching to start travelling again, and as travel corridors reopen, luggage storage innovators such as Stashbee will be well positioned to capture market share.
With 1.5 billion square feet of under-utilised space in warehouses, spare rooms and garages in the UK alone, Stashbee is effectively monetising untapped space, by allowing hosts to earn money from their idle space. By its last funding round in 2019, Stashbee had over 820,000 square feet of leasable spare space listed on its platform, which (for scale) is equivalent to 28 traditional self storage facilities!
While the startup shifted its focus to saving during the height of the pandemic, Stashbee emerged from lockdown ready to switch into growth mode. Year-on-year growth remained stable from the end of 2020 through until Q1 of this year, and despite an uncertain macro environment, the platform still helped hosts across the UK earn income through offering storage space (check out the media links below for heart-warming anecdotes). It also moved up from the 8th largest storage provider in the UK to the 4th largest.
In the spirit of hitting the ground running, Stashbee is also about to kick off a major rebrand strategy with the help of agency Koto Studio, which has previously supported a host of leading brands such as Airbnb, Sonos, Gumtree and BlaBlaCar to revamp their digital and brand identities.
Stashbee is live on the Secondary Market now, at an indicative valuation of £11.5M. There are limited sharelots available for purchase, starting at £32.99. View shares and updates here.
🗞️ Stashbee in the News
➤ How to save money in 2021: top tips to improve your finances – The Telegraph
➤ Single mum reveals how she paid off £16,000 of debt – Metro
➤ Sharing Economy Market is Set To Fly High in Years to Come – KSU Sentinel
The animal feed market is massive, and well on track to reach $548B by 2027 at a steady rate of 3.3% CAGR. In fact, this market dwarfs human consumption markets, fishmeal markets, and every other alternative protein markets by comparison.
Founded at Oxford by a team of engineers, plant scientists and entrepreneurs, UK-based agritech DryGro has developed innovative, low-cost production methods for growing Lemna, a protein that can effectively replace soybean meal in animal feed. Not only does it grow 8 times faster than soybean meal, it also uses 99% less water to produce and can be grown on arid land, and is not vulnerable to climate change. The result? A local, planet-friendly and resilient model to meet growing worldwide livestock demand.
DryGro has won numerous awards and grants, including funding from Horizon 2020 SME Instrument Phase 1, Innovate UK’s Agri-Tech and Energy Catalyst programs, Climate-KIC (The EU’s largest climate change-focused funding body), and the European Space Agency. Throughout 2020, DryGro continued its R&D with four universities. The startup was also accepted into the EIT Food Rising Stars Program, alongside nineteen other high-impact agtech and foodtech scaleups.
DryGro is live on the Secondary Market now, at an indicative valuation of £13.2M. There are limited sharelots available for purchase, starting at £6.90. View shares and updates here.
🗞️ DryGro in the News
➤ Lemna cultivator DryGro closes $4.7m Series A to sustainably replace soy in livestock feed – AFN
➤ Using satellite tech to help create a sustainable livestock feed – SpaceWatch
➤ Our chat with DryGro – AdLib
➤ RisingFoodStars gains traction: 20 scaleups joining the unique network – EIT Food
➤ DryGro Pitches at FoodBytes! London 2019
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