Sixley, the SaaS recruitment platform that rewards staff and communities for recommending talent and sharing roles; and Sharesy, the community venue booking service for one-off or recurring events, will head to London for the Britain’s Got Startups event series final in London.

Having attracted 320 applications, London-based Sixley and Sharesy will join the cohort of just eleven UK businesses that have been selected to present to regional, national and international investors at the Home Grown Club in London on Tuesday 2 July.

Taking to the stage, each company will now come face-to-face with prospective funding partners in a bid to secure between £150k and £10m, which could significantly change the trajectory of each organisation and its ability to scale.

Founder and CEO at Sharesy, Felix Atkin, comments: “A benefit we have found with the Britain’s Got Startups event series is that the team has been supportive throughout the process. It wasn’t a case of making introductions and then being left to it, but matchmaking investors who are interested in both tech for good and consumer marketplace.

“We were very pleased to secure an investment in the regional finals and hope to do the same when we take to the stage in London. These funds would support our further technology development and commercial growth as we set our sights on expansion throughout the UK.

“In addition to the investors that have been in the room, we have been really impressed with the high calibre of other businesses presenting too. We hope that Sharesy’s impact proposition, which generates a sustainable income for community venues through hiring their underutilised spaces, will resonate.”

Managing Director of Novus Capital and Founder of Britain’s Got Startups, Jenson Brook, comments: “We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Sixley and Sharesy. Getting to this stage is a real achievement, not least because we had so many strong applicants.

“We know that regional businesses are undervalued and don’t get anywhere near the attention that they deserve. We want to change that. Through Britain’s Got Startups, we can facilitate introductions between some of the most innovative companies in the UK and investors that are serious about supporting founders to meet with their ambitions.
“We wish both businesses every success as they take to the stage to meet with investors that could provide the funds they are looking for.”

The eleven businesses announced as finalists are Lemon, Gaia Learning, Minimass, Ciqurix, IoT Solutions, Sixley, Sharesy, Rubitek, Oxcel Ltd, Thrift+ and Rare Earth.

Sponsored by Abstract Tech, Vestd and Novus Capital, in addition to attracting 320 applicants, the regional events and finals that have taken place during the 2024 event series have already facilitated the offering of 12 term sheets, providing a fundraising value of £2.5m.

Britain’s Got Startups first launched in 2023 and attracted 117 applications, resulting in 24 shortlisted candidates, 12 finalists and 50 investor follow ups. This then paved the way for the 2024 series, which has seen more than double the number of applicants, reiterating the demand for investment from UK start-up and scale-up businesses.