• WeSwap

  Participated · Series B · Jul 2016

  WeSwap operates a peer-to-peer travel money exchange platform that lets consumers swap currencies directly to access lower fees than traditional providers. The company charges around 1% compared with up to 13% charged by some rivals. Founded in 2011 by Simon Sacerdoti and Jared Jesner, WeSwap is London-based and today has more than 200,000 members across 10 countries and supports 18 currencies. Over £25m has been exchanged through the platform since January 2016. The business completed a £2.4m Seedrs crowdfunding round that sold 3.98% equity to 2,961 investors. Alongside a £10m Series B in July, the new funding is intended to support expansion into new and existing markets throughout 2017, with plans to launch in Asian markets already underway. WeSwap is a p2p travel money exchange launched in 2013 by Simon Sacerdoti and Jared Jesner. The company’s core product is an app that enables members to swap and manage currency with one another and then spend it using a MasterCard accepted worldwide. The app supports members in 10 countries swapping into 18 currencies. WeSwap aims to cut out traditional airport and high-street intermediaries by facilitating direct swaps between travellers. The company plans to use newly raised funds to expand into new markets and to launch new products. It recently completed a $10M Series B financing. WeSwap is a London-based startup focused on helping travelers get better exchange rates by matching currency needs between users and delivering funds via a WeSwap Prepaid MasterCard. The company positions itself on travel rather than general remittances and charges a transparent 1% fee on transfers, with swaps free when users trade with people they already know. WeSwap currently operates in six currencies and plans to expand support to 16 currencies by the end of the year. The platform relies on a P2P matching model but will execute currency trades on the market or itself step in when no matching counterparty exists. The new capital is intended to fund launches in new markets and increase the number of supported currencies. Competitive context in the article highlights contemporaneous raises by other money-transfer fintechs, underscoring investor interest in the sector.

• User Replay

  Participated · Equity · Feb 2016

  User Replay is a Reading, UK-based developer of customer experience management (CEM) software available as cloud-based or on-premise solutions. The company has developed session replay technology that lets eCommerce companies understand and analyze every visitor’s journey through a website. Its product is used to improve conversion rates, find and fix site bugs, resolve customer disputes, recover abandoned baskets and prevent fraudulent transactions online. Led by CEO John Thompson, User Replay targets eCommerce customers seeking detailed session-level analytics. Financially, the company raised $4.7M in funding and has secured over $350,000 from Innovate UK. It plans to use the funds to expand in the US market and increase the pace of product innovation. User Replay offers CEM software that acts like a ‘black-box recorder’ for e-commerce sites, recording and replaying individual user sessions to surface technical, usability and navigation problems. The product is aimed at larger e-commerce players and is used to increase conversion rates, resolve customer disputes, re-market abandoned baskets and help prevent fraud. The company originally sold an on-premise solution but has recently added a cloud-based SaaS offering, which it cites as a competitive advantage versus IBM’s Tealeaf and has helped it win former Tealeaf customers. User Replay is Reading, UK–based and says it can handle industrial-scale recording of large volumes of user activity. Financially, the company has raised a total of $5.9M to date and additionally received a $400,000 grant from the UK Technology Strategy Board. It plans to use the new capital to further develop the product and to expand across Europe and into the U.S., including opening an office in the U.S. User Replay offers a platform for ecommerce channels to record and analyse customer journeys to surface usability and navigation issues that block conversions. The product is aimed at helping merchants understand difficulties customers face on their websites and overcome barriers to purchase. Customers cited in the articles include DirectFerries.co.uk, Sports Direct, CoFunds, and a large US financial services company. The company plans to use the new funding to further develop its platform. User Replay was established in 2011 and is led by CEO John Thompson. The recent financing brings the company’s fundraising profile to a total of $2.5M. User Replay is a Reading, UK-based provider of an online recording and reporting engine called Session Replay that records, re-runs and analyzes every visitor’s journey through a website. Led by CEO John Thompson, the software helps e-commerce companies find and fix site bugs, resolve disputes, recover abandoned baskets and prevent fraudulent transactions. Its software is used by major retail websites including SportsDirect.com and Cofunds. On 26 September 2013 User Replay raised £335k in venture capital funding in a round led by EC1 Capital with participation from Star-Achats. The financing brings the company's total amount raised to £1.2m. User Replay said it will use the funds to accelerate product development.

• Big Data for Humans

  Led · Seed · Sep 2015

  Big Data For Humans is a Glasgow and London-based startup that offers a data-science-as-a-service platform for the retail and travel sectors. Launched in October 2014, its platform automates insights over billions of calculations and generates action plans that work across channels. The service aims to help retailers understand who their customers are and what they want, improve marketing monetization, and avoid costly in-house data science teams and infrastructure. Typical customers range from large multi-channel supermarkets to mid-sized bricks-and-clicks retailers, and the company charges a subscription for its service. The founding team includes CEO Peter Ellen, who previously founded Maxymiser (sold to Oracle) and Fopp (sold to HMV). Big Data For Humans recently secured seed funding to scale the offering and expand globally.

• LoyaltyLion

  Led · Seed · Apr 2014

  LoyaltyLion is a data-driven loyalty and engagement platform that powers growth for thousands of e-commerce brands. It helps merchants understand what drives longer-lasting customer relationships and provides the tools to create unique loyalty programs that increase retention and spend. Founded in 2012 and headquartered in London, the company has grown in a capital-efficient manner, reporting triple digital revenue growth and a doubled headcount in 2020. With new funding, LoyaltyLion plans to invest in its Development and Customer Success teams and further evolve its loyalty and engagement platform. The company will also continue global expansion efforts and set up a physical office in North America. Michael Elias of Kennet Partners will join LoyaltyLion's board as part of the investment. LoyaltyLion offers a white-label, data-driven "social loyalty" platform that lets online stores run loyalty schemes rewarding purchases and non-purchase activities. The product integrates with common e-commerce software and can be installed in under 10 minutes, supporting Shopify, Magento, and SEOshop. Rewardable actions include creating an account, watching or sharing videos, tweeting, liking, and other social sharing, with points redeemable for vouchers. The company targets the long tail of e-commerce, positioning itself against competitors that focus on larger merchants. Founded in 2012 and relocated from Berlin to London, LoyaltyLion reports about 57,000 consumers signed up to LoyaltyLion-powered schemes. Customers have reported a 21% increase in time spent on their sites and a 49% increase in customer engagement after implementing the platform.

• Lifecake

  Participated · Seed · Nov 2013

  Lifecake is a family-focused photo and video sharing service that organizes uploaded memories into a chronological timeline using file metadata. The platform supports uploads from devices and PCs (including drag-and-drop of large folders) and offers apps for iOS, Android, Mac, Windows and the web. It employs an algorithm to rank and highlight popular content based on engagement metrics and contextual words to surface meaningful photos. Lifecake operates a freemium model (1 GB free, 100 GB premium for $36/year) and also generates revenue from premium hardcover photo books (80 pages for $50; additional pages $0.50 each). The company launched out of beta backed by external funding and had raised a $300,000 angel round earlier in the summer. The new funding will be used to improve the ranking engine and other usability enhancements.

No current team members are available.