Ship Shape Search secures a £100,000 grant to democratise access to funding.

Ship Shape Search secures a £100,000 grant to democratise access to funding.

The innovative technology firm secured funding from the Sustainable Innovation Fund with Innovate UK to build a scalable platform that allows start-up founders to identify the best individuals in the VC industry to fund their businesses. Ship Shape’s platform democratises access to funding by identifying investors most likely to be interested in a start-up, enabling start-ups to save many weeks of senior management research time. “We started Ship Shape to give good ideas the best chance of success. Our platform means you don’t need to be an expert in fundraising to identify the right potential investors for your business.” Miguel Neumann, one of the founders said. Innovate UK, as part of UK Research and Innovation, is investing up to £191 million to fund single and collaborative research and development projects as part of the Sustainable Innovation Fund over the next two years. The aim of these competitions is to help all sectors of the UK rebuild after the effects of COVID-19. The Sustainable Innovation Fund is funding 1,103 projects, 1189 UK businesses and totalling over £130 million in support across the UK.

Daniel Sawko, Ship Shape CEO said: “This grant award recognises the broader economic potential of Ship Shape’s platform at an important time for UK start-ups. It’s a vote of confidence in the vision and our commitment to democratise access to investment opportunities for the next generation.” Innovate UK Executive Chair Dr Ian Campbell said: “In these difficult times we have seen the best of British business innovation. The pandemic is not just a health emergency but one that impacts society and the economy. “Ship Shape Search, along with every initiative Innovate UK has supported through this fund, is an important step forward in driving sustainable economic development. Each one is also helping to realise the ambitions of hard-working people.” About Ship Shape Ship Shape Search provides actionable investor intelligence for start-ups, showing them the best individuals to engage with at Venture Capital firms. This saves start-ups many weeks of research and thousands of pounds. About Innovate UK Innovate UK drives productivity and economic growth by supporting businesses to develop and realise the potential of new ideas. Innovate UK connects businesses to the partners, customers and investors that can help them turn ideas into commercially successful products and services and business growth, funding business and research collaborations to accelerate innovation and drive business investment into R&D. Support is available to businesses across all economic sectors, value chains and UK regions. Innovate UK is part of UK Research and Innovation. For more information visit www.innovateuk.ukri.org Contact Persons Miguel Neumann, co-founder Email: miguel@shipshape.vc Michelle Sawko, Marketing & PR Email: michelle@shipshape.vc Ship Shape Search LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ship-shape-vc Ship Shape Search Twitter https://twitter.com/VcShip