Bimble has announced £1.3m in angel funding.
The Oxford-based app for sharing ‘places you love’ secured the investment after it was invited to join Google’s Digital Accelerator programme.
Co-founded by Francesa Howland and Tomi Novak, Bimble plans to use new investment to fuel growth and focus on building its audience in the UK and New York.
Bimble helps you to create and remember personalised place and travel lists and share them with like-minded people on its iOS app and platform Bimble.com.
Howland said: “If the question is where? Bimble is the answer. How many times have you discovered or been recommended somewhere to go, only to find that you either forget about it, misplace the pull-out or it disappears into a digital Bermuda Triangle?
“We created Bimble after realising there are thousands of place recommendations shared every day, but no simple way to collect these and pass them on. As we looked more closely at the opportunity, we simply couldn’t believe that no one was doing this already.
“We have spent a year getting to grips with our members and what motivates them. Through the app, you can curate the places that mean something to you, helping you and your favourite people better enjoy the world around you.”
The company co-founded by Francesa Howland and Tomi Novak has clinched the angel investment from early-stage technology investors who have strong digital and AI track records across travel, retail, fashion, and subscription-based models.
They include Dimitris Panagopoulos, one of the original Net-a-Porter backers – who led the round for Bimble – Rupert Rittson-Thomas and Julian Granville.
A third of the investment also comes from female angels committed to backing other female entrepreneurs.
Panagopoulos said: “My three investment criteria are a belief in the product for being a true innovation, its potential to be globally scalable and my complete trust in the founder.
“I have every confidence in the vision for Bimble and that Francesca will deliver it. Bimble offers us a meaningful, creative and life-enhancing digital community; quite different from the social media platforms of the last 10 years.”
The start-up has already built a community of 60,000 through beta testing and formed a partnership with early-stage tech supporter EasyJet, meaning places featured in easyJet Traveller will be added to the airline magazine’s Bimble page each month.