The key to Zaggora’s growth: Keep asking questions
Dessi and Malcolm Bell started working on online sportswear business Zaggora in 2011, launching their trademark hotpants that aim to help people lose weight. The online-only business found success early on. The founders generated £14m in revenue in their first 18 months – a trajectory that saw them nearly go bankrupt because they had more […]
The Pitch Final returns to London in November!
Dust off your power suit and put on those lucky socks, the most exciting startup competition of the year – The Pitch 2019 – is coming back to London! Join us to watch 15 startups from across the country compete for the coveted title of Britain’s best new startup at The Trampery on London’s iconic Old […]
The strategies big subscription box startups used when they launched
Consumer demand for curation has created a big opportunity. Startups are thinking about how products can be delivered, and benefiting from recurring revenue and a captive audience. Did you know you can subscribe to get hand-picked craft beers delivered to your house every month? What about shaving equipment, coffee or film memorabilia? We spoke to […]
How Crowdcube grew from a side hustle to help startups raise more than £625m
Crowdcube’s founders were fed up with the difficulty everyday people had raising funding and investing. Angel investing was limited to people who were very wealthy and you needed a good network to get funding. They envisaged a platform where anyone could invest. The disruptive idea has helped over 800 startups raise more than £625m over […]
How to call in favours, make connections and get free stuff
Bootstrapped businesses depend on the founder’s tenacity to cut costs, develop partnerships and get stuff for free. Emma Durkin started Where the Wild Is after leaving her full-time job as head of marketing at a tour operator. She’s built the business on a shoestring budget by getting people to buy into its purpose. Durkin gave […]
How to get shortlisted for a startup competition
Thinking about entering a startup competition? Over 500 startups entered The Pitch 2018. Here are the top five things we learnt from reading those applications and why the shortlisted startups stood out. We’ve packed the blog post full of examples. Use the comments section to share your advice or ask questions. 1. Explain what you do […]
How The Pitch winner Oddbox scaled to 2,500 subscribers and raised £500,000
The Pitch 2018 winner Oddbox aims to reduce food waste by delivering wonky veg boxes to consumers. Our judges were impressed with the speed the purpose-led business scaled to 2,500 subscribers, its mission and potential. We spoke to co-founder Emilie Vanpoperinghe about the challenges of growth, raising £529,000 investment and winning The Pitch 2018. Why did you launch […]
Meet The Pitch 2018 finalists
After watching hundreds of pitches from this year’s boot camps, the wait is over. Meet our 16 finalists for The Pitch 2018 and read their elevator pitches below. These startups will pitch at our grand final in London in October. The event is judged by award-winning entrepreneurs like Perkbox founder Chieu Cao, Creative England CFO […]
Five startup mentalities that will help you through your first six months
Starting a new business is an intense mix of excitement and nerves. Entrepreneurs need to work on their own behaviour to have the best chance of success. This is about personal development. This advice is based on talking to hundreds of entrepreneurs about the challenges they faced and my own experience of launching a business. […]
The Pitch 2018 judging panel announcement
We’re really excited to announce our complete judging lineup for The Pitch 2018 with little over a month to go until applications close. Some of the UK’s most prominent entrepreneurs will be judging the pitches at the final in October. Like Anne Boden who’s reshaping the finance industry with her disruptive offering Starling Bank and just […]
