Crowdfunded Business of the Year 2017

Start-up name: Mous
Founders: James Griffith and Joshua Shires
Started in: 2015
Based in: Ipswich
Business description: Designer and manufacturer of ultra-protective phone cases and mobile accessories

Today, there are few moments more hair-raising than those that pass immediately after you’ve dropped your iPhone on the floor. Have the edges chipped? Has the screen cracked? And, most importantly, how much will it cost to repair?

Looking to reduce the risk of this modern catastrophe, Mous designs and manufactures savvy cases which both look good and effectively protect smartphones from damage.

Created by entrepreneurs James Griffith and Joshua Shires, the innovative cases are made of Mous’ advanced, patent-pending AiroShock material – which contains thousands of impact-absorbing micro air pockets – and each house a strong steel plate for added protection.

With attention-grabbing demonstrations of the cases’ strength, including pummelling them with hammers and dropping them from 45ft cranes and helicopters, Mous has found success on crowdfunding platform Indiegogo, pulling in over 50,000 backers and a jaw-dropping $2.4m in pre-orders.

This, the start-up says, makes the campaign the world’s biggest iPhone case crowdfunding round, as well as Indiegogo’s most successful tech accessory campaign.

And Mous has continued to gain astonishing traction. Despite the fierce competition to be found in the phone accessory market, the start-up already ships to over 100 countries across the world, has opened a second office in Shenzen, China, and has grown from a team of five to 25 in just six months.

Mous was up against seven other fantastic crowd-pleasers for this award, but it was ‘swingable’ rucksack Wolffepack which took home the Highly Commended awarded, and online tutoring marketplace Tutora which was awarded the Commended trophy.