• Mallzee

  Participated · Equity · Feb 2018

  Mallzee offers Product Future, a retail-data service that lets retailers leverage its engaged app audience as a testing zone to assess product sales potential and inform buying and merchandising decisions. The company says this approach improves sell-through by using real consumer preference data before orders are made. Mallzee's app has garnered 1.4 million downloads to date and the company reported more firms tested products in the latest quarter than in the rest of 2017 combined. The startup raised £1.9 million in its latest financing from SIB, Par Equity, Equity Gap, and London Scottish Investment Group, bringing total funding to £5 million. The new funds will be used to boost sales of Product Future. Mallzee has appointed Peter Robinson, former executive head of ecommerce at Marks & Spencer, to its board to help build its retail insights capabilities. Mallzee offers a Tinder-esque swipe interface on Android and iOS to browse and purchase fashion from more than 100 retailers. Its personalization technology builds unique style profiles and sends alerts when liked items drop in price. For retailers it provides an anonymized data insight tool that surfaces real-time engagement and demographic signals. The app combines consumer-facing discovery with retailer analytics to improve merchandising and targeting. Founded in 2013 and based in Edinburgh, Scotland, the company has grown its user base to just under 300,000 and is targeting 1 million users by year-end. CEO and founder Cally Russell previously said the startup would reach 500,000 users with prior funding; that milestone has not been reached yet. Mallzee is a fashion-finding app led by CEO Cally Russell that aggregates more than one million items of clothing from roughly 200 top fashion brands. Described as a “personal shopper in your pocket,” the app has a user base in the tens of thousands and aims to grow to 250,000 shoppers by the end of the year. Mallzee has signed partnerships with brands and retailers including ASOS, Topshop, Urban Outfitters, River Island, Liberty London, Glassworks and Oki-Ni. The company is based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It secured $850K in funding to scale the business and bring the product to more consumers across the globe.

• pureLiFi

  Led · Equity · Jan 2015

  pureLiFi develops LiFi technology that transmits data using light rather than conventional radio-frequency systems such as Wi‑Fi or cellular communications. The company says LiFi is complementary to Wi‑Fi and can improve performance when combined. pureLiFi plans a global rollout and aims to open markets in mobile phones, tablets, wearables and other connected devices. The Scottish National Investment Bank has provided more than $10 million to support technology development and market expansion. pureLiFi was formed in 2012 as a spin‑off from the University of Edinburgh and has worked with partners such as Cisco. The company cites Harald Haas, former chair of the university’s Mobile Communications department, as a founding technical influence. pureLiFi develops LiFi transmitters and receivers (OEM components) to enable wireless data transmission through light rather than radio frequencies. The company has shifted from selling LiFi systems to producing Gigabit-capable LiFi components in form factors intended for integration into laptops, tablets and mobile devices. pureLiFi has worked with device manufacturers and partners such as Getac, Cisco, Wipro, Zumtobel and O2 Telefonica to commercialise its technology. The firm emphasizes LiFi’s advantages of higher bandwidth, security and reliability and notes industry standardisation work under 802.11 and the formation of the Light Communications Alliance. Founded in 2012 as a University of Edinburgh spin-out, pureLiFi is headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland. The company positions its products to address growing demand across smart living, IoT, VR/AR and other high-bandwidth use cases. PureLiFi develops LiFi technology that uses modulating LED light in the visible spectrum to send data between devices. Its core product approach pulses LED light in ways imperceptible to the human eye to deliver wireless communications instead of radio frequencies. The company highlights potential advantages such as higher data transfer speeds, greater security from line‑of‑sight requirements, and the ability to use existing lighting infrastructure as access points. It also acknowledges limitations, notably that light‑based wireless won’t work in many outdoor situations and is constrained by line of sight. Since its Series A last year, PureLiFi completed development and production of the LiFi‑X mobile dongle and says it is working with partners including Cisco and Lucibel on LiFi networks. The company raised just over £7 million in a Series B to begin commercialising the technology. pureLiFi (formerly pureVLC) is an Edinburgh-based light communications company founded in 2012 as a spin-out from the University of Edinburgh and led by Harald Haas (CEO) and Harald Burchardt (COO). The company develops OEM components including LiFi drivers and receivers aimed at enabling Internet-of-Things applications and secure wireless communications for Industry 4.0. Its LiFi-X product includes an access point that connects to any LED light plus a business-card sized USB 2.0 dongle for mobile devices, offering a user experience comparable to and more secure than Wi‑Fi. pureLiFi plans to integrate its products into smart devices and homes through LiFi microchips. The company closed over $2M in funding and intends to use the proceeds for continued commercial growth and product development. PureLiFi is a University of Edinburgh spin‑out developing LiFi — visible light communication that uses imperceptibly pulsating LEDs to transmit data. The company has begun shipping a product called Li‑Flame, which turns off‑the‑shelf light fixtures into LiFi access points and pairs with a battery‑powered mobile unit to enable indoor roaming. PureLiFi highlights advantages such as greater security from line‑of‑sight requirements and the ability to leverage existing lighting infrastructure. The startup will use the new funding to support development and roll‑out of its product roadmap and for marketing initiatives. The article reports the company was founded in 2012 and is based on technology developed at the University of Edinburgh. It is also in the process of raising a full VC round, which it aims to close in the second half of the year.

No current team members are available.