Dorset Business Angels (DBA) come together on February 5th at the Bournemouth Carlton Hotel for their first pitch event of 2024.
Five companies have been carefully selected and will present their offer to investors on the night. The pitches are diverse, ranging from patent pending robots and feminine hygiene product solutions, to a local Bournemouth business creating 3D images for online visualisation and interactivity. There really is something for everyone! Here are the brief pitch summaries:
Robotic Aids for Food Manufacture: Industrial robotic gripper and vision system enabling the fully automatic assembly of food ingredients for ready meals.
Their low-cost mobile unit has two robot arms, computer vision software, and patent pending grippers, to fully assemble any ready meal. It replaces two manual workers at half the cost, thereby addressing the significant labour shortage for the high-cost, thin-margin business of ready-meal production – particularly so for sandwiches, pizzas, salads, burgers etc. Fully developed tech, now de-risked and operational the equipment is about to be introduced into the third largest sandwich maker in the UK.
Nutritional Food Science: Science-driven development and production of nutritional ready meals to improve the health and life quality of people with specific health conditions.
This Company aims to improve the health and life quality of their customers who have specific health conditions or who are at risk of developing them, by providing science-driven, delicious, convenient ready meals. The food is either delivered to the customer’s door or via a partner such as the NHS or leading food service operators. They have just been approved for supply into the NHS via their framework, and are listed on Compass Food Buy, the UK’s largest food service company.
Online Visualisation through 3D Photography: Enabling retailers and artists to create and display interactive 3D photos of physical objects for retail and leisure websites.
This Bournemouth-based Company’s mission is to become the industry standard for allowing users to integrate 3D imagery of their products into online displays. Retailers and artists can create and display 3D photos of physical objects online that are completely photo-realistic, fully interactive and load approximately 10x quicker than traditional mesh-based 3D renders. Current retail customers have experienced increased conversion rates by up to 220% and engagement by up to 50%.
Personal Mobility Vehicles: Innovative new design promoting healthy ageing, social empowerment and inclusivity.
The Company aims to disrupt the fast-growing market for electric mobility vehicles and is designed to enhance the health, overall well-being, and social inclusivity of elderly and disabled people. Conventional mobility scooters are difficult to manoeuvre within confined spaces and dictate that the user must always remain seated, which is mentally and physically unhealthy and can be socially stigmatising. To overcome these shortfalls, their products offer 360-degree joystick-controlled manoeuvrability and the ability to travel in both standing and seated positions.
Feminine Hygiene: A portable, multifunctional cleaning case which users can use to clean their menstrual cup in public bathrooms and sterilise their cups at home.
This Company’s product is designed to improve the daily experience and environmental impact menstruators have with their period products by making them more user-friendly, accessible, and affordable. The product is a portable cleaning and sterilising case for the menstrual cup and is suitable for all sizes of cup currently on the market. It can be easily cleaned and sterilised at home in a microwave for 3 minutes. Switching to the menstrual cup can reduce the amount of sanitary product waste that goes to landfill by 96% and the cost to the menstruator by 94%.
Debbie Frith, DBA Director commented, “Investors will be presented with a range innovative products and ideas giving them the opportunity to be involved at an early stage in the company’s growth plans. How exciting is that!”
Peter Eales, DBA GM and Director added, “Our first event of 2024 is going to be an interesting one. Several of the pitching companies have received grant funding from Innovate UK. Often this is used to accelerate early growth and pay for such services as product development and marketing. Investors are often bolstered by this knowledge”. Peter went on to say that grant funding isn’t a necessity, sometimes it’s just a really good innovative idea that piques an investor’s interest.
DBA is dedicated to providing local high-net-worth (HNW) and sophisticated investors (SI) with quality private equity investment opportunities. The investments facilitated by DBA are in the form of equity investments rather than debtors’ loans, ensuring a mutually beneficial arrangement for all parties involved. With a broad investment scope, DBA supports ventures across various sectors.
Angel investments can take the form of individual investors or syndicates comprising two or three angels pooling their funds to support a company. This collaborative approach allows for increased investment potential and shared expertise among the investors, creating a robust support system for the businesses they back.
DBA enjoys the support and strategic partnership of BCP, TC Group, Ellis Jones and RATHBONES Incorporating Investec Wealth and Investment. To book on to the event click here.
