Home services tech platform PatchApp has secured the largest angel investment in Lancashire history with a £1.2m fundraise.
The funding round marks a landmark occasion in the region’s tech and home services landscape, with 103 angels backing the Colne-based firm.
Amongst the angels are Wigan Warriors stars Kruise Leeming and Ethan Havard, ex-WILDERNESS WAY CEO Geoff Jenkinson and Kevin Flood, partner at First Party Capital.
Founded in 2022, the company’s platform has become a major player for booking, paying for and managing window cleaning and home maintenance services online across the North West and Yorkshire.
With the aim of making home services seamless and reliable, the platform eliminates the hassle of cash payments and unreliable service, serving thousands of paying monthly customers across North Yorkshire, Bradford, Calderdale, Pendle, Ribble Valley, Preston, Chorley, Cheshire and Greater Manchester.
The business will now be revalued based on its new technology, revenue generation and growth, before launching an equity crowdfund.
Founder Paul White, an exited founder of Modern Milkman, said: “I’ve known for a long time that the trend for consumers is toward convenience, and that’s what I’ve been working on for the last 7 years in total now.
“I’m really proud that of the 103 angel investors in PatchApp, 83% of them are from within an hour of our head office in Burnley, Lancashire.
“It’s been a long, hard slog but people have believed in our team. We knew a fund wasn’t the right approach for us, so we did it a different way.
“We were determined to build this business outside of a city and people told us that was impossible, but we’ve done that.
“Outside of the frameworks of the city-centric angel groups, we’ve built our own significant angel network, which will now go on to do other great things. It has been a tough old slog, but I think the scale of it is testament to the belief in what we are building.”
The business exclusively employs armed forces veterans and is also establishing a community fund to support organisations in the communities it serves.
PatchApp co-founder, Conor Walsh, added: “We’ve seen some really strong growth with the brand becoming well established.
“We’ve built the businesses on a tiny head office team, concentrating on revenue generation and profitability, whilst focussing on strong growth.
“We grew our customer base by 20% last week alone, and now we’re looking at where we go geographically over the next 12 months.”