The Venture Codex

Led · Equity · Mar 2023

Luna Daily makes microbiome‑balancing, natural and vegan intimate body care products that are free from soaps, allergens, sulphates and parabens. The brand emphasizes packaging and inclusive marketing to drive mass‑market appeal while maintaining a grassroots outlook. It reported a 1000% year‑on‑year sales increase in 2023 and secured distribution with Sephora in the US. Luna Daily is developing a tailored motherhood offering with dermatologists, gynaecologists and a pelvic‑floor physiotherapist, comprising six performance‑led products. The company plans to use new capital to expand that motherhood range, increase marketing and influencer spending, and realign its internal marketing team toward a more agile strategy. Following the latest round, Luna Daily has raised a total of £4.7 million to date. Luna Daily is a London-based intimate body care brand that makes microbiome-balancing body care for all skin types, designed for women and people with vulvas across life stages. Its product line targets needs from puberty through motherhood and menopause. The company secured $3.7 million to establish a female intelligence platform and support retail expansion. The planned platform will provide educational resources and a 24/7 live chat with medical experts to improve intimate-care education and normalise conversation. Founder and CEO Katy Cottam says the brand aims to eradicate shame and eliminate the outdated 'feminine hygiene' category by giving women more choice. Luna Daily is launching in global beauty retailer Sephora as part of its growth push and partnership activity.

Participated · Seed · Nov 2022

Founded in 2020, Plend is an FCA-authorised consumer lender that uses Open Banking data and its proprietary PLEND Score® to assess affordability based on customers’ real financial circumstances rather than traditional credit scores. The company focuses on serving near-prime borrowers overlooked by mainstream lenders, helping them consolidate multiple expensive commitments into a single, structured repayment plan. Plend describes its underwriting as technology-led and positions itself around responsible, transparent lending and financial inclusion. The business is a Certified B Corporation and plans to scale its lending platform, supported by the new committed facility to refinance existing lines and fund new originations. No revenue or user metrics were disclosed in the articles.

Led · Series A · Oct 2022

Feel is a London-based digital health company offering a subscription wellness brand focused on clean-label nutrition products such as vitamin supplements and functional foods. Its formulas are described as innovative and backed by research and science. The company is led by founder and CEO Boris Hodakel. In October 2022 Feel raised funding to support its growth. The business intends to use the proceeds to strengthen its position in existing markets and to expand its products and brand into new international territories. The article identifies no operating metrics beyond the fundraising. Feel develops high‑quality, science-backed vitamin and nutritional supplements sold primarily through a direct-to-consumer subscription model. The company emphasizes potent ingredients with no additives and has seen significant growth in the 12 months prior to the announcement. Feel intends to expand its product range into additional nutrition verticals and to grow its London-based team. Founder and CEO Boris Hodakel leads the business, which has also announced an equity partnership with singer and TV personality Cheryl to work on future products. Financially, Feel reported unaudited gross assets of £0.4m and a net loss of £0.8m for the year ended 31 March 2020. ITV will support Feel with a tailored media campaign across its channels as part of the strategic partnership. Feel is a U.K. direct-to-consumer startup that sells "pure" nutritional supplements in post-box-friendly subscription packages. Its formulas are researched and formulated in-house and the company emphasizes clean, higher-grade ingredients it says are more absorbable and free of fillers. Founder and CEO Boris Hodakel launched Feel after noticing many fillers in retail supplements and regularly updates formulas; its flagship multivitamin is already in its third version. Feel claims 60x growth in its first year and reports about 21,000 active subscriptions. The company says it keeps consumer prices lower by leveraging a direct-to-consumer model despite higher production costs. Investors have highlighted the company's growth and product-line expansion as drivers for its market opportunity.

Participated · Seed · Nov 2017

Snatch is an augmented‑reality mobile game in which players locate virtual parcels via a map or AR, then must hold and defend those parcels for six hours to unlock prizes. The game partners with consumer brands (Heineken, Deliveroo, Missguided, Boohoo, Gousto, Virgin Wines and Samsung) to supply non‑virtual prizes and also awards cash. During a nine‑month beta it recorded ~550,000 downloads and reported 40,000–60,000 daily active users; the company said players averaged 1hr 33mins per day across 12 sessions and also described typical users visiting ~13 times/day for ~10 minutes per visit. Snatch says it has given away £300k in cash and £10m in other prizes during beta, with over a million prize parcels distributed; 86,566 golden parcels have been found and the company reports 85% of cash parcels contained £1. The startup was founded in 2016, has offices in London and San Francisco, and previously raised funding from Unilever Ventures. Snatch intends to use the new seed funding to grow in the UK and begin planning international expansion, with a US launch on the horizon.