For a technology company, taking a product from the idea stage to market can be a long, difficult journey. This can make finding VCs willing to invest challenging, but with the right help, all things are possible.
Matthew Vamplew is Founder at Paranimo, a platform which enables HR and wellbeing companies to increase revenue and improve the mental health of their customers, with a white label therapy platform they can use to match people to the right counsellor. The company has already won £150,000 in funding from Innovate UK, and Vamplew says the funding proved to be essential to provide traction on the journey towards positive cash flow for the business:
“To go from an idea to testing, to a prototype to an MVP to a launch… for us that was too expensive unless we got help. Kerry and Swoop helped us to take that journey and introduced us to the investors we needed to develop our business.”
Vamplew was introduced to Kerry Dwyer, Account Manager at Swoop. In an echo of how Paranimo works, Swoop matched the company with their community of VCs and Angel investors. Vamplew says that winning £150k of Innovate UK grants proved to be vital in securing further investment:
“Winning that funding gave our business a definite seal of approval that helped us with investors. Kerry matched us to Worth Capital, a micro VC that opened the door to us raising a further £150k.”
With the current funding in place, Paranimo has been able to prove that there is a market for their product. Over time, the company has had to refine and pivot on their model and is now in a place where there is a clear route forward towards profitability.
Vamplew says:
“Thanks to Kerry and Swoop, we have been able to buy enough time to test a business model that initially didn’t work. We were then able to make the pivot and get customers and are in the process of going back to the VCs for some top up cash.”
Vamplew also credits Swoop for improving accessibility to funding by raising awareness of the opportunities for SMEs and startups, particularly in the technology space. By knowing the market, Swoop was able to make a number of introductions for Paranimo until the right investors were found. Vamplew says:
“My experience with Kerry and Swoop has been nothing but positive. We wouldn’t have applied for what we got if Kerry hadn’t told us about it and we wouldn’t have secured our capital if we hadn’t worked with Swoop.”
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