There are scores of startups looking to sell men medication for the treatment of erectile dysfunction. There are millions of men using these services to seemingly improve their sexual health. Mojo is a sexual wellness platform that helps men overcome their erectile dysfunction by taking a holistic and medication-free approach. Offered as a subscription, the platform offers access to therapists that provide tailored plan of action that includes video courses, exercises, live events, and group sessions to help men overcome the psychological issues that are affecting their performance in the bedroom. Mojo is also used to address sexual anxiety, porn addiction, and other causes of sexual performance issues. The subscription is £50 for a quarterly subscription after a 7-day free trial. London TechWatch caught up with Mojo Cofounder Angus Barge to learn more about how Mojo seeks to replace the blue pill as the first course of action when it comes to sexual dysfunction for men, the company’s strategic plans, and latest round of funding led by Octopus Ventures and Kindred Capital.
London Startups
Cord Raises $17.5M for its Platform that Makes Any SaaS Application Collaborative With Just a Single Line of Code
The first instance of multiplayer mode for non-entertainment use can be traced all the way back to 1968 when Douglas Engelbart of Stanford demoed collaborative document editing, teleconferencing, and manipulation of on-screen elements in what has been dubbed “The Mother of All Demos”. In the 50+ years since these features have become commonplace but not truly collaborative across the average 80+ SaaS applications that an organization uses. Cord brings the true power of collaboration to SaaS applications with a single line of JavaScript. With this single line of code, SaaS application providers can instantly make their applications more collaborative by introducing features like chat, presence, annotations, integrations with task managers and Slack, screen recordings, audio messages, live cobrowsing, and video chat. Building these features internally would not only be costly but also require significant development resources. London TechWatch caught up with Cord CEO and Cofounder Nimrod Priell to learn more about how the founding team’s time at Facebook led to the inspiration for the business, the company’s strategic plans, recent round of funding from investors that include Index Ventures, Elad Gil, Jeff Morris Jr., Charlie Songhurst, Guy Podjarny, and Matt Robinson.
AKT Raises £1.5M for its All-Natural Deodorant Brand That Works Anywhere on the Body
The global deodorant and antiperspirant market is expected to surpass $80B this year; the organic personal care products market is expected to grow at 9.3% through the latter part of this decade. Sitting at the intersection of the two is AKT, a direct-to-consumer all-natural, plastic-free premium deodorant brand. Rather than the conventional roll-on or spray, AKT’s three scents are designed as a balm that can be applied to any part of the skin without fear of irritation. Each tube, designed to keep you smelling fresh all day, retails for £18 and is also available as a subscription through AKT’s site. London TechWatch caught up with AKT Cofounder Ed Currie to learn more about how the found team’s experience sweating under the bright lights as theatrical performers inspired the brand, the company’s strategic plans, and latest funding round from Stronebridge.
The September 2021 London Venture Capital Funding Report
September was a strong funding month for startups in London with over £1.2B pulled in across seventy deals including six mega ($100M+) deals. Aggregate statistics for all London funding deals by stage of funding (Early, Series A, Series B, and Late) including mention of notable rounds for September 2021.
Coinrule Raises $2.2M for its Automated Trading Platform for Crypto
Black box trading has long been used by traders in the financial markets. Traders establish a set of buy and sell rules based on pre-programmed logic and the “black box” monitors the market and automatically initiates trades when the defined conditions are met. Programmatic trading comprises the majority of trading on the major exchanges. Coinrule’s platform brings similar functionality to crypto trading. Traders can set up automated trades based on 150+ predefined conditions or even customize their own parameters to directly trade on the most popular crypto exchanges including Binance, Coinbase, and Kraken. With the crypto markets operating 24/7, the automation also serves as a risk management tool. The company offers several monthly tiers ranging from free to $449/mo. Coinrule, a graduate of Y Combinator, is quickly approaching 100K traders on its platform that have traded $1B of cryptocurrencies. London TechWatch caught up with Coinrule Cofounder Oleg Giberstein to learn more about the state of crypto trading, the company’s future plans, latest round of funding from investors that include Y Combinator and Urban Innovation Fund.
SquadPal Raises £400K for its Social Community App to Connect Distributed Teams
While the flexibility and benefits of remote work arrangements have been touted, the reality is that working from home can be isolating and depressing for many, leading to lost productivity. The small interactions with colleagues in an office setting or team-building events just can’t be replicated in a remote workforce. SquadPal is a community app for distributed teams to connect and interact at a social level. The app offers games, quizzes, live experiences, competitions, and challenges to improve employee morale, build engagement, and foster comradery among coworkers. The app formalizes and improves much of the makeshift team engagement activities that were being done on company Slack channels and on Zoom. The app is being used by teams at companies like Amazon, Uber, and Paypal. London TechWatch caught up with SquadPal Cofounder and CEO Robinson Nouveau to learn more about how the founding teams’ experience managing remote workforces at the onset of the pandemic inspired the business, strategic plans, recent round of funding from investors that include CapitalT, Jair Paula Jr, Charlie Songhurst, Raphael Theron, Riccardo Bruni, Nick Lally, Christer Holloman, Martin Gould, and Dan Murray-Serter.
Crezco Raises £3M for its B2B Payment Platform for Invoice Payments Without Onerous Fees
Open banking is changing the landscape of finance, making services more accessible and efficient. The advent of open banking is also challenging the stronghold that legacy financial institutions have had on the market. While much of the attention has been focused on consumer applications, open banking also streamlines the banking experience for businesses. Crezco is an open banking payment platform that offers free payment solutions for domestic B2B transactions. Users can make payments across Europe using a simple link or QR code, bringing much-needed convenience to small businesses without any hidden fees or surcharges. The company, founded in 2020, works with all the major UK banks and is integrated with popular financial applications like Quickbooks, Xero, and other payment invoicing platforms. London TechWatch caught up with CEO and Cofounder Crezco Ralph Rogge to learn more about bringing open payments to the B2B market, the company’s strategic plans, recent round of funding from investors that include Charles Delingpole, Chris Adelsbach, and UFP Fintech.
The 21 Largest London Startup Funding Rounds of Q3 2021
Everything you need to need to know about the largest London startup funding rounds of Q3 2021; broken down by industry, stage, investors, and more…
These 15 London Startups Raised the Most Capital in September 2021
Everything you need to need to know about the largest London startup funding rounds of September 2021; broken down by industry, stage, investors, and more…
OLIO Raises $43M for its Food Sharing App That’s Addressing the Massive Food Wastage Problem
The United Nations estimates that 17% of the food available to consumers goes directly into the bin. Globally 923 million tonnes of food is wasted each year. 60% of this wastage happens in the home. Addressing this massive societal problem is London startup OLIO, a food sharing marketplace that lets neighbours share excess food by taking a photo, which is then available on the platform for neighbors to pick up. The simplicity of the app has made it quite popular; OLIO has handled 25 million+ portions of food and three million non-food household items that would have ended up wasted. The pandemic has served as a tailwind for the company, with a 5x increase in listing, as people reconsidered their relationship to the environment and sustainable choices. London TechWatch caught up with OLIO CEO and Founder Tessa Clarke to learn more about the genesis of the company, strategic plans, latest round of funding from investors that include VNV Global, Lugard Road Capital, DX Ventures (the venture arm of Delivery Hero), Accel, Octopus Ventures, and Rubio.