The Venture Codex

Led · Equity · Jun 2026

Founded in 2016, Spotless Water operates a national network of pure water stations supplying professional cleaning and detailing businesses. Since launch it has dispensed more than 600 million litres and now supports upwards of 22,000 weekly refills across 160 UK stations. The company uses a patent-pending Spotless Ecoflow system that dispenses up to 120 litres per minute while minimising waste and eliminating disposable resins used in traditional purification systems. Spotless Water has signed concession partnerships with retailers and forecourt operators including Morrisons, Park Garage Group and Motor Fuel Group, and aims to reach 1,200 stations by 2029. The business plans to use the recent funding to accelerate site rollout, upgrade stations and trial integrations such as into jet wash bays, and deepen its national partnerships.

Led · Equity · May 2026

Founded in 2018 and headquartered in London, GEEIQ provides insights, data and analytics for games and virtual worlds. The platform helps brands benchmark performance, identify partners and creators, and optimise spend across activations, campaigns and social channels. GEEIQ works with global brands including Walmart, L’Oréal, Gucci, NASCAR and Warner Bros. The company has previously been backed by YFM Equity Partners and has just completed a £5m funding round led by YFM with participation from GFR, Haymarket and angel investors. Management intends to use the new capital to deepen product capabilities, expand data partnerships and build AI features. The business positions itself as a platform-led analytics provider serving brands entering platforms such as Roblox, Fortnite and ZEPETO.

Led · Series A · Apr 2026

StudentCrowd operates a data and insights platform focused on purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA), combining verified student reviews with structured property and tenancy data. The company reports coverage of 100% of the UK PBSA sector, tracking more than 770,000 beds, over 55,000 tenancy types, and over 4.3 billion structured data points refreshed weekly, and says its reviews have helped 14 million+ users. Founded by Paul Humphreys and Pete Sisson, StudentCrowd sells data and insights to operators, investors and advisers while serving students seeking accommodation information. With the new Series A funding, the company plans to scale its inventory dataset across continental Europe, test expansion into the US with launch partners, move into adjacent living sectors such as BTR, and build reservations functionality to enable bookings on-platform.

Led · Equity · Apr 2026

Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Exeter, Swanky is a full-service Shopify Platinum agency serving retailers and brands across the UK, Europe and Australia. The agency provides an end-to-end service proposition for Shopify Plus clients and was appointed one of Shopify’s first Plus Partners in EMEA in 2016. Under CEO Dan Partridge (appointed 2021) the business has grown to around 70 employees and delivered consistent revenue growth. Swanky has built international presence and is positioned as one of Europe’s largest and most experienced Shopify Platinum Partners. Following the investment, leadership additions include Chris Hirst as chair and Elly Adams as CFO, with Amy Dougan promoted to COO and co-founder Matt Giles remaining as Chief Creative Officer. The company plans to use the new capital to invest in talent and capabilities and pursue selective mergers and acquisitions to scale further as Shopify Plus adoption accelerates.

Led · Equity · Apr 2026

inploi provides a white-labelled talent technology platform that integrates with applicant tracking systems to automate candidate sourcing, screening, scheduling and communications using AI-driven agents. The company says its platform has facilitated millions of job applications for over 70,000 vacancies and serves more than 30 enterprise clients across sectors including hospitality, leisure, healthcare, construction, government and retail. Key clients mentioned include Compass Group, Wagamama, Gail’s, PureGym and several NHS trusts. Founded in 2016, inploi pivoted from a labour marketplace to enterprise SaaS in 2021 and has recently expanded into the US. Following the €3.4 million funding round, the company plans to accelerate development of its Talent Agents, enhance sales and marketing, and grow its team.