Venture Funded Business of the Year 2017

Start-up name: Trouva
Founders: Alex Loizou, Mandeep Singh and Glen Walker
Started in: 2013 (launched in 2015)
Based in: London
Business description: Online marketplace for independent shops and boutiques

When Trouva’s entry was being presided over by the Startups Awards judges, the London-based business had raised £2.5m seed investment from some of Europe’s largest venture capital funds including Octopus and Index Ventures.

Its success in raising this sum within a two year-time frame while simultaneously developing its marketplace to help independent bricks-and-mortar stores, going through the process of a rebrand (it was previously known as StreetHub), AND building a community of over 350 boutiques across 25 cities, was music to the ears of our judges…

Which led the panel, and the category sponsor haysmacintyre, to name Trouva as the Startups Awards Venture Funded Business of the Year 2017.

And recent developments have only cemented our judges’ decision.

Just two weeks ago Trouva secured an additional $10m in a Series A funding round to “save the high street”. The round attracted backing from Octopus and Index once again, alongside influential funds such as BGF Ventures, Playfair Capital, Downing Ventures, and Silicon Valley Bank.

This venture funding – which takes its total investment to over $12.5m – will see the start-up establish a new base in Lisbon, and triple the size of its team, to ultimately help independent retailers from across the world to flourish.

An inspiring example of how you can get a number of investors on side, Trouva wasn’t the only business to impress our judges and demonstrate the potential for VC investment.

E-commerce mattress start-up Simba was awarded the Highly Commended title, while Decibel Insight was Commended for having raised a $9m Series A round to scale its digital experience analytics service.