Crowdfunded Business of the Year 2018: Meet the finalists

Floom

Founded by Lana Elie, Floom is an online floristry website with £580,000 in crowdfunding that helps people discover quality bouquets from a curated selection of local independent florists across the UK and in New York and have them delivered that day. It has built its software to simplify the process of finding and purchasing from the best florists so “the florists take centre stage”.

Learn more about Floom and cast your People’s Champion vote here

Goodbox

Goodbox is the company building digital payments solutions to connect charitable causes with donors. Having raised £2.64m on Seedrs, its contactless payment devices have now been tested in trials to help charities including the Natural History Museum, Great Ormond Street Hospital, Tate Galleries and the Church of England raise their own funds. It claims that in some cases, the trials doubled total fundraising revenue.

Learn more about Goodbox and cast your People’s Champion vote here

hiyacar

hiyacar – which closed its latest Crowdcube campaign on £1.2m in May – wants to change the way we think about car ownership, encouraging better utilisation of vehicles already on the road by enabling peer-to-peer car sharing. Supported by insurer AXA, which provides tailored cover, its QuickStart technology takes away the hassle of key handover and ensures a safe and transparent transaction for both car owners and drivers.

Learn more about hiyacar and cast your People’s Champion vote here

Mindful Chef

Gluten-free? dairy-free? Vegan? Flexitarian? Vegetarian? Pescatarian? Whatever your dietary requirements, Mindful Chef’s pre-proportioned health-focused recipe boxes have got you covered with sustainable ingredients from British farms. For each meal sold, it donates one school meal to a child living in poverty and is a recently certified B Corp. In July 2016, it raised £1m in 11 days in an oversubscribed crowdfunding round.

Learn more about Mindful Chef and cast your People’s Champion vote here

Mush

Born from the statistic that 90% of new mums feel lonely, crowd-backed Mush is on a mission to tackle this massive social problem by using technology to help mums connect with each other locally. Praised by Facebook, Wired, the Telegraph, and the Times, Mush has raised £3.25 million in funding and attracted 400,000 users to date.

Learn more about Mush and cast your People’s Champion vote here

Nix and Kix

Whether for cocktails or mocktails, Nix & Kix is the creator of natural, low calorie, sugar free vegan adult soft drinks with a Cayenne kick. The founders had a chance meeting on a plane to London and bonded through their entrepreneurial spirit. After travelling and experiencing different cuisines and cultures they saw how widespread chillies are due to their taste and health benefits. Nix and Kix was born.

Learn more about Nix & Kix and cast your People’s Champion vote here

Tutorful

Founded by qualified teacher Scott Woodley and technology analyst Mark Hughes, Tutorful helps people find and book personal, private tutors in their local area for Primary, GCSE or A Level tuition. Every tutor is fully vetted before they are added and all communication and payment is carried out through the platform. The company raised more than £700,000 in an equity crowdfunding campaign in March 2017.

Learn more about Tutorful and cast your People’s Champion vote here

The Vurger Co

Backed by £300,000 from a Crowdcube campiagn, The Vurger Co was founded to disrupt the fast food industry with its 100% plant-based restaurant concept and take veganism mainstream in London “by creating the most delicious and indulgent burgers the city has ever tasted”. It currently operates one location in Shoreditch, offering everything from its signature burgers to Mac n Cheese and homemade shakes.

Learn more about The Vurger Co and cast your People’s Champion vote here