⚡ How this Start-Up is Turning SMEs into Sustainability Champions

Morning Innovators ⚡ In less than 5 minutes, we’ll cover…

🥳 The best funding opportunities, events and jobs in the Start-Up world this week
📰 This week’s biggest news stories in the Start-Up world
🌍 How this Start-Up is turning SMEs into sustainability champions
🐓 How you can ride the wave of name mispronunciation
🎬 A tool that enables you to create quality video clips in seconds

✨ Last weeks most clicked link was this link taking you through to the application process for the next Entrepreneur First cohort, with €250,000 of investment up for grabs.

Happy hustling,
Rich

🎤 Events/Opportunities

🔒 Cleo Capital have just launched their cybersecurity security accelerator, with successful applicants receiving a $250,000 investment. You can apply here.

💍 Bling Capital have just raised their 4th fund of $270m, looking to deploy that into Seed stage companies with global ambitions. Get in touch with them here.

🍸 Distill Ventures (Diageo) are looking to put £250,000+ Seed cheques into exciting drinks companies, you can apply here.

💼 Start-Up Jobs

🤲 Business Operations Associate, GiveMatch
🧑‍💻 Software Developer, MyCrib
📈 Marketing Manager, GivePanel

💳 Klarna reports quarterly profit of €18.7m as it preps to go public. Sifted

🏀 Another Superstar athlete is making their way into Venture Capital. TechCrunch

🇪🇺 Scaling Start-Ups is top priority as EU reboots its top team. TechCrunch

📱Social media ban ‘on the table’ as government to investigate impact on children. UKTN

Leafr: Empowering SMEs to Achieve Sustainability Goals

Revolutionising Sustainability for SMEs
Leafr connects small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with freelance sustainability specialists and climate consultants. The platform addresses the challenge many SMEs face: they can’t afford full-time sustainability staff, nor do they need them. By leveraging expert networks, tailored guides, and AI-driven insights, Leafr provides affordable, practical solutions to help SMEs achieve their de-carbonisation goals and make a tangible impact on the planet.

The Co-Founder Search: A 100-Person Journey
Nick, one of Leafr's founders, took an incredibly methodical approach to find the right Co-Founder, interviewing over 100 people during an accelerator program. After experimenting with the idea of starting Leafr with a few friends, Nick realized he needed someone with a specific set of skills and drive. When Gus reached out after seeing a LinkedIn post about the company, the two quickly hit it off, having moved in similar circles. Multiple meetings later, they formed a partnership that set the foundation for Leafr’s success.

The First Customers: Hustle and Last-Minute Incorporation
Leafr’s initial customers came from Nick’s personal network, built through years of sharing sustainability advice. In fact, the first deal was secured before Leafr was officially registered as a business. While negotiating with a potential client, Nick was asked for the company number—realizing they didn’t have one, he scrambled to incorporate Leafr with HMRC in real-time, just minutes before closing the deal!

Scaling with Communities: Turning Passion into Growth
After onboarding their first clients, Leafr expanded by tapping into climate and environmental communities on various platforms. By engaging consistently and building authentic relationships within these groups, the founders established a trusted presence. When they eventually shared their first website link, hundreds of customers signed up almost immediately. They also experimented with cold outreach and LinkedIn content, which proved effective in sustaining growth.

Key Lessons: The Power of Niching Down
The biggest takeaway for Leafr’s founders was the importance of narrowing their focus early on. Although it might feel counterintuitive, niching down helps you better understand and serve your target customer. For Leafr, this clarity allowed them to align their product and messaging to their audience’s specific needs, driving both adoption and satisfaction.

Funding Journey: A Surprise Start to Pre-Seed Success
Leafr raised a Pre-Seed round led by Haatch Ventures, supported by angel investors and syndicates. Interestingly, their fundraising journey began unintentionally—Nick was discussing the business with an advisor, who revealed himself to be an investor and offered to back Leafr. Shortly after, another advisor also committed funding, marking the beginning of their successful raise.

Overcoming Challenges: The Co-Founder Conundrum
The most significant challenge for Leafr was finding the right Co-Founder. The experience of interviewing over 100 candidates helped Nick refine what he needed in a partner and avoid settling for less. Waiting for the perfect fit ultimately paid off, and Leafr is a testament to the value of patience and discernment in building a founding team.

Final Thoughts: A Blueprint for Building the Right Team
Leafr’s journey underscores the importance of trust, focus, and persistence. Whether it’s securing your first customers or finding the perfect Co-Founder, building a startup is as much about the people as it is about the product. By staying authentic to their vision and engaging deeply with their audience, Leafr is paving the way for a more sustainable future for SMEs.

Carta is a platform that helps people manage equity, build businesses and invest in the companies of tomorrow. Our mission is to unlock the power of equity ownership for more people in more places. Carta is trusted by more than 40,000 companies, over 8,000 investment funds and a million employees for cap table management, venture capital solutions and more. In the UK, we support founders who are raising money through SEIS/EIS, helping with Advance Assurance, round modelling and more. To find out more, take a look at their website, or get in touch with [email protected].

Do you have a slightly complicated business name that people constantly mispronounce? La Vieille Ferme definitely did, which meant a large number of their customers had to come up with an alternative name for it when they spoke about it. What was that alternative name? ‘The Chicken Wine’.

The team at La Vieille Ferme decided to double down on this. Instead of trying really hard to push their original name, they did a tongue in cheek rebrand and called themselves ‘The Chicken Wine’. As a result, their customers absolutely lapped it up and started posting it EVERYWHERE, getting millions of views across socials.

If people are struggling with your name or branding, how can you take advantage of this?

Each week we highlight our favourite tools - either something we’ve been using in our businesses, or tools that our innovator community have recommended.

Magicroll.ai is an autonomous video creation tool designed to create viral shorts in single click. The tool's primary features include automatic B-Roll generation, motion graphics, AI-powered captions, and customisable templates.

Next week I’ll be highlighting another awesome Start-Up, as well as sharing all the usuals including funding opportunities, Start-Up news, plus plenty of awesome tips, tricks and tools.

P.S. Connect with me on LinkedIn…