Our next Pitch Event for Angel Investors takes place on February 3rd at the Bournemouth Carlton Hotel.
DBA members, High Net Worth (HNW), and Sophisticated Investors (SI) from our wider community who comply with our requirement to deliver serious investor interest for our presenting entrepreneurs are welcome to attend. Access to pitch decks, business plans, financial information and one-page summaries will also be available via the Portal.
If you are HNW or SI but not a member please contact us to request access to the Pitch Portal.
Registration is now open
Confirmed pitches are as follows:
Market Sector: Pre-loved Clothing
Creating a circular economy for pre-loved school uniforms and children’s activity clothing through school-run online shops.
The cost of school uniforms in the UK is increasing - averaging £282.60 per child annually - and the environmental impact of fast fashion highlights the need for affordable and sustainable alternatives.
The Company’s platform addresses these issues by providing a marketplace for preloved uniforms, offering savings of up to 70% in addition to reducing waste.
Their market research shows that the competition lacks the comprehensive ESG metrics they have integrated into the platform which allow it to track environmental impacts like CO2 savings and water conservation. The inclusion of these metrics aligns the platform with modern sustainability trends.
Schools are also able to generate revenue through the platform.
The Directors are seeking £50K to enable planned expansion.
Market Sector: Digital Fundraising
A digital fundraising platform helping donors easily find and support local charities at lower fees than existing platforms.
This Company addresses inefficiencies in the UK digital fundraising sector, particularly the lack of access for smaller charities and non-profits, which constitute 85% of registered charities that do not currently use a platform. This gap results in a huge number of missed donations and puts smaller, high-impact charities at financial risk
The market is currently dominated by two major players, but this Company’s platform differentiates itself by targeting underserved organizations and offering features like a directory for all charities, an AI-powered search engine, and lower fees for personal crowdfunding.
This innovative approach addresses significant market gaps and offers a scalable, high-margin business model. Additional features to be added this year are designed to significantly disrupt the UK digital fundraising market, particularly for underserved non-profits.
Management is now seeking to raise £200K to fund this development.
Market Sector: Opthalmology
Software that allows eye care professionals to share patient data and make treatment decisions remotely, helping reduce wait times and unnecessary hospital visits by connecting local optometrists with hospital eye specialists.
This Company provides a software platform designed to connect patients, optometrists, and ophthalmologists, thus enabling secure data sharing and remote triaging. This greatly reduces surgical wait times and unnecessary hospital visits.
Its platform focusses on the inefficiencies in communication between community optometry and hospital ophthalmology. With over 10% of NHS outpatient visits related to ophthalmology and an ageing population driving increased demand, the Company believes that the market clearly needs a better collaboration system.
A successful pilot study has shown a 91% reduction in outpatient visits and 56% shorter wait times.
Currently, 50 optometry practices are signed up, and over 1,000 patients are being processed.
The founders now seek £750K to scale up the business.
Market Sector: High Tech Wearables
A smart ring provides hands-free, intuitive control of other devices such as phones, wireless speakers and sports cameras on the move – even when wearing gloves.
The problem of controlling music or connected devices during sports activities, especially when wearing gloves is a common occurrence and user frustrations are well documented.
This Company’s product is an innovative solution to the above in the form of a ‘ring’, within which is encapsulated a joystick device. This provides multi-device compatibility with smartphones, wireless speakers, sports cameras etc, and is particularly useful when the user is on the move. The product has received multiple awards, (CES, ISPO & Red Dot), and widespread media coverage.
It was launched in January 2023 and sales to date are circa £250K. A partnership agreement with a major supplier of sporting products has been signed and is expected to increase revenue significantly this year.
Management now seeks £250K to scale up production.
Market Sector: Recycled Plastic Products
Turning hard-to-recycle plastic waste into sustainable building materials that replace wood and concrete in construction projects.
This local company addresses two significant issues: the oversupply of non-recyclable plastic waste - 70% of plastics sent to recycling in Europe are incinerated - and the under-supply of sustainable timber, which is forecast to be in deficit by 2050. Their solution transforms low-grade plastic waste into carbon-negative materials for outdoor infrastructure, thus replacing timber and reducing carbon emissions.
A machine-learning manufacturing process produces standardised composites from mixed plastic waste, creating durable, low-cost alternatives to timber and other construction materials and in doing so addresses a pressing global need. It also allows them to use material that recycling companies currently have to pay to dispose of, thereby dramatically reducing the cost of goods, and making durable carbon-negative materials affordable enough for the mass market.
The Company is scaling up its own manufacturing operations, producing lumber, fencing, furniture, and light shelters for national infrastructure providers in the road, rail, and construction sectors. They aim to expand their manufacturing operations across Europe before joint-venturing with recyclers in emerging markets, to expand access to both waste management and sustainable construction materials.
Management seeks to raise £2.5M to scale up the business to meet future demand.
