⚡ How this Start-Up Created an Operating System for Your Home

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 did this Start-Up create an operating system for your home?
😱 How nude marketing campaigns can shock your audience
📃 An AI SEO tool that gives you publish ready, high ranking content

✨ Last week’s most clicked link, was this link taking you through to Betaworks who have just raised a $66m fund to invest $500k cheques into early-stage AI companies.

Happy hustling,

Rich

🎤 Opportunities + Events

🥤 The Slush 100 pitch competition is open for applications, with the winner getting a €1,000,000 investment - you can apply here!

💪 FoundersEdge is looking to write multiple $200k cheques into Pre-Seed Software companies this month, pitch the team here!

📣 NatWest have launched their £100,000 pitch competition, in which you can win a share of £100,000 for your business - apply here!

We now have a community of thousands of Start-Ups and Founders, here are the hottest Start-Up job opportunities from the Innovators Uncensored community on our very own Start-Ups Job Board!

💼 Start-Up Jobs

📱 Creator Operations Manager, Joli
🧑‍💻 PHP Developer, Doc2
📈 Head of Growth, WineFi

🇺🇸 Starling to open new North America office amid talk of US IPO. Sifted

🙇 Google takes on ChatGPT’s study mode with new guided learning tool. TechCrunch

🧬 For the first time, OpenAI models are available on AWS. TechCrunch
 
🚲 DoorDash acquisition drives losses for Deliveroo. UKTN

Planning a trip for business or pleasure?

Finalrentals, a pioneering car rental fintech headquartered in Wales, has revolutionised the industry with its innovative approach and product-centric strategy. By addressing key challenges within the car rental sector, Finalrentals has experienced remarkable growth, increasing its size sixfold in the past 12 months. The company's expansion is not limited to growth metrics alone; it has also successfully established a robust global presence, extending its footprint across the EU and the Caribbean.

Book your rental here!

I’ve spoken about eye-catching marketing before, this might just be the pick of the bunch!

The team over at Bob have been stopping people mid-scroll in abundance by seemingly doing their most recent marketing campaign in the nude!

Whilst the sheer shock of the ad gets your attention, the ad copy keeps it. Very simple, impactful copy that says exactly what they do in just a few words - speaking directly to their target customer. A few deliberate spelling mistakes thrown in for good measure forces you to re-read it just to make sure it’s not you reading it incorrectly, thus, keeping you there even longer.

2 steps here, shock and then simplicity. How can you replicate that in one of your ad campaigns?

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

Generic AI tools give you drafts. Verbite delivers publish-ready, high-ranking content thanks to specialised AI Agents.

Spondle: The Operating System for Modern Households

Running a home shouldn’t feel like managing a corporate team, yet it often does. Enter Spondle, an intelligent household assistant designed to reduce the mental load of domestic life.

Spondle helps modern households, from couples to flatmates, stay on top of chores, planning, schedules, finances, and life admin. Using automation, smart reminders, and an intuitive voice-first interface, it turns household chaos into calm. Think of it as your home’s operating system: it syncs calendars, predicts tasks, reminds you of what matters, and ensures no one forgets the laundry… or your anniversary.

Built by a Real-Life Team, for Real-Life Challenges

Spondle is the brainchild of Folasade and her Co-Founder-husband, whom she met over a decade ago at university. Their journey together spans friendship, marriage, and multiple side projects from parenting playcards to a fashion blog.

Folasade brings a background in early years education and Montessori training, while her Co-Founder contributes 7+ years of startup experience across product marketing, growth, and community. Together, they understand that a household is not a workplace - it’s messier, more emotional, and less forgiving. That insight is woven into every part of Spondle’s product.

From Instagram to Inboxes

To find their first users, the pair turned to their most powerful asset: their story.

By sharing content tailored to parents and couples on Instagram, they built a highly engaged community of over 3,000 followers. Their relatability resonated, especially with people feeling the invisible weight of household responsibilities. That early organic community became their first user base.

Today, over 100 people are using the browser-based beta, strengthening household communication, streamlining to-dos, and building more aligned relationships through Spondle.

Early Days, Bold Ambitions

Spondle is kicking up the gears. The team is raising a $300,000 pre-seed round to help launch the mobile app in September 2025 and reach 100,000+ households in the next phase of growth.

What makes this especially exciting is their product’s agentic AI system, an under-the-hood brain that learns routines and offers smart suggestions without feeling invasive. It’s not about flashy AI features. It’s about easing everyday life.

Lessons From the Home Front

One of their biggest takeaways? Families are fluid. Unlike teams in the workplace, household members aren’t bound by structure or hierarchy. Tools must be forgiving, flexible, and intuitive.

They also learned that leading with “AI” wasn’t always helpful. What people really want is less stress and better communication, not tech for tech’s sake. That said, as the capabilities of AI advanced, they knew they couldn’t wait any longer. They’ve now begun baking predictive logic and automation directly into Spondle’s DNA.

Fully Bootstrapped, and All In

Folasade and her Co-Founder have been bootstrapping Spondle for seven months, using personal savings and some early support from family and friends. That runway has allowed them to build the core product, validate the concept, and prepare for a bigger launch.

Now, with a clear roadmap and growing user demand, they’re seeking their first institutional capital to scale.

The Future of Household Harmony

Spondle isn’t about replacing family dynamics with tech. It’s about supporting them, quietly, intuitively, intelligently.

It’s still early, but the vision is clear: a world where home life flows with less friction, where couples and cohabiters don’t burn out over dishes and forgotten appointments. Where “who’s doing what” no longer needs to be a fight.

Because peace at home shouldn’t be a luxury. With Spondle, it’s starting to feel a little more achievable.

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…