From PropTech to GreenTech, from FinTech to EdTech, the latest cohort of startups to complete Baltic Ventures’ third 16-week accelerator programme took part in their demo day.
Nine founders had three minutes to pitch to an audience of around 250 investors, techies and members of the media at Liverpool’s Camp and Furnace building.
The 20th series of The Apprentice starts next week but this was real-life, with founders seeking the investment they need to turn their dreams into reality.
Hosted by executive voice coach Sam Malone – who hails all the way from Canada in case you missed it – the event also heard from Baltic Ventures chair Carl Wong, angel investor Graeme Ankers and outgoing CEO Claire Lewis.
The founders who were pitching came from across the UK and beat thousands of applicants for a place on the Baltic Ventures accelerator.
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1. Chest
Founders: Ali Adam and Jason Murphy
Description: Chest is addressing the urgent problem of pension under-saving among Millennials and Gen Z in the UK.
Story: Ali Adam had worked at EY for 11 years when the direction of his life took an unexpected twist. While flicking through his parents’ finances he realised his own pension pot wasn’t as big as he thought so he joined forces with his friend Jason Murphy and launched Chest. After an early pivot the FinTech’s platform offers a mobile app integrating digital pensions, cashback via e-gift cards, and gamified saving tools to engage young people early in their retirement journey. It’s very promising.
Investment ask: £500k
2. Aposto
Founder: Cathy Long
Description: Aposto is a B2B SaaS platform transforming how large-scale events manage staffing and safety.
Story: Cathy Long spent more than 15 years at the Premier League but it was her experiences following the 1989 Hillsborough disaster, which claimed the lives of 97 Liverpool fans, that really shaped her life.
Aposto founder Cathy Long
She launched Aposto in 2020 in her early 50s – only for Covid to bring the global events business to a standstill. Long is very resilient and has built an impressive contacts book. The startup is already cash positive and is on a mission to make the UK – starting with Liverpool – the safest place in the world to host live events.
Investment ask: £650k
3. School SCR
Founders: Jay Ashcroft and Ryan Smith
Description: The EdTech’s technology automates safeguarding compliance for schools and Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs) in England, replacing error-prone spreadsheets with a real-time SaaS platform.
Story: Jay Ashcroft and Ryan Smith are industry veterans who have bootstrapped their startup to date. They want School SCR to become the standard compliance layer for all 32,000+ English schools, improving safety, transparency, and efficiency in education.
Investment ask: £250k
4. MaestroAI / Skinscanner.GG
Founders: Joshua Sinclair and Nathan Engolodoe
Description: Billed as the ‘Skyscanner for digital assets’ the company’s technology is focused on transforming the $4.4bn skins trading market.
Story: I’m 100 per cent not the target audience for the gaming startup but they’re attracting interest from investors, who know the market better than me.
Investment ask: £300k.
5. ClassHoppa
Founders: Olivia Cooley-Dawes and Siobhan Fox
Description: ClassHoppa is an all-in-one digital platform helping parents find, book, and manage extracurricular activities for their children.
Story: Olivia Cooley-Dawes has a background in eCommerce while Siobhan Fox has worked for the likes of Sky and ITN. They were inspired to set up ClassHoppa after seeing a gap in the market for how families engage with children’s activities. The startup has sold 4,500 classes to date.
Investment ask: £550k
6. Future Greens
Founder: Gabrielė Barteškaitė, David Dixon, Alexander La Fleur and Alastair Roper
Description: Future Greens turns food waste into renewable power and reduces carbon emissions
Story: Future Greens’ technology is attracting a lot of interest from the brewery industry in particular and the founders are on a mission to change the world.
Investment ask: £3m
7. Plato
Founders: Dragos Popa and Nikita Dumitriuc
Background: AI-powered Plato provides valuable analytics on student engagement and common questions, enabling proactive curriculum improvements.
Story: Popa and Dumitriuc are a couple of recent graduates who identified the lack of support available for students, leading to many dropping out of their studies. Plato aims to enhance student confidence, improve outcomes, and reduce pressure on overworked university staff amid financial constraints.
Investment ask: £250k
8. Breezemove
Founders: Phil Melia & Karl Winter
Background: Seasoned entrepreneurs Melia and Winter have vowed to transform the UK property transaction process via their proprietary tech platform.
Story: PropTech BreezeMove claims to be able to reduce the time it takes to buy a house from an average of 22 weeks to just 13. The early signs are promising with over 150 estate agents and 30 solicitors already using the technology.
Investment ask: £500k
9. Loom
Founder: Daisy McAdam
Background: Loom is a digital platform using AI to power upcycling in fashion. Their app matches customers with designers who can transform unworn garments into new, wearable pieces.
Story: Judging by the way the investor seated next to me was twiddling with his moustache, the signs are promising for Loom. Daisy McAdam is an impressive and passionate speaker. She is a two-time founder and said she learnt lots of lessons from her first venture – a sustainable fashion marketplace called Lofte.
Daisy McAdam, Loom
Loom is a bit like Vinted except the owners want to keep their outfits – particularly wedding dresses – once they’ve been given a new look. Described as the ‘Fiverr for fashion designers’ Loom has already built up an impressive community and is handling 35 projects a month.
Investment ask: £450k