How Moshi Monsters Turned the Tech World's Willy Wonka into a Global Mindfulness Founder Phenomenon

Morning Innovators 👋 This week (in less than 5 minutes!) we’ll explore…

🧠 How Moshi Monsters turned the tech world’s Willy Wonka into a Global mindfulness founder phenomenon
👕 How clever wordplay, cardboard signs and a bunch of balloons got this start-up 100,000s of loving followers
🏡 How two superstar DJs are revolutionising the Gut health industry

Each week we’ll be writing about crazy pivots, secret stories of how huge companies almost failed in the beginning, the untold journeys that the most successful founders took to get to where they are today, breakdown mind-blowingly successful acquisitions and investments whilst spotlighting some of the most exciting start ups that you haven’t heard of yet, plus throwing in a few tips and tricks along the way.

👆 The most clicked link in the last week’s newsletter was Keyzy, a prop-tech start-up offering a rent-to-own solution, to make homeownership achievable.

If you have any feedback or suggestions for next week’s edition let us know.

Happy hustling,
Rich & Gary

Where were they before? Before venturing into the realm of mindfulness and meditation with Calm, Michael Acton Smith's entrepreneurial journey was a rollercoaster of creativity and learning. He co-founded his first company, Firebox, an e-commerce platform that delved into the world of toys, gadgets, and games. With limited business expertise, he and his partner, Tom Boardman, had to navigate the intricacies of running a business as they went along.

His second endeavour, Mind Candy, emerged from his passion for gaming. In the early 2000s, as the internet landscape evolved, he envisioned a ground-breaking gaming company where millions could play online. The company initially embarked on a creative yet commercially unsuccessful venture with a treasure hunt game called Perplex City. Faced with dwindling resources, they urgently needed a shift in direction. It was during this period that Michael was captivated by the idea of using play as a tool for children's learning, ultimately planting the seed for the whimsical world of Moshi Monsters.

Navigating the children's entertainment space was a formidable learning curve, but they managed to grow the business to tens of millions of users. This growth revealed the power of blending online and offline components to strengthen a brand. While Moshi Monsters had a digital core, they ventured into physical products like books, toys, magazines, music albums, and even a movie with Universal Studios. However, the entertainment industry, especially children's entertainment, proved to be volatile, with rapid market shifts. Michael and his team witnessed highs and lows, going from a workforce of over 200 employees to plummeting revenues and substantial layoffs.

These turbulent times led Michael to search for balance and perspective. He discovered the transformative potential of meditation as a response to the mounting stress. Extensive research and neuroscience findings illuminated the positive impact of this ancient practice on brain rewiring. This revelation led Michael and his friend, Alex Tew, to embark on the journey of creating Calm.

What sets Calm apart is its enduring nature; it isn't a hit-driven business with fleeting success. It taps into fundamental human needs and stands to be valuable not only in the present but in the coming years and even centuries. Calm has become a venture worth dedicating one's career to, driven by the profound impact it can have on individuals' lives

🚗 Drovo drives off with £3m for vehicle advertising platform
UKTN
Maven Capital Partners is leading a £3m Series A investment drive into London-based vehicle advertising platform Drovo.

🏦 Blackpool neobank Tandem opens London office
UKTN
Blackpool-based challenger bank Tandem has opened an office in London in a show of faith in the City’s finance and fintech prowess.

🚚 The Future of Vehicle Inspections: Amazon’s AI Breakthrough
TechRound
Amazon has introduced a state-of-the-art Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology capable of detecting minute irregularities in delivery vans, such as tire deformities, undercarriage wear, and bent or distorted body components before they become on-road problems.

👀 Viso eyes no-code for the future of computer vision and scores funding to scale
TechCrunch
Viso is building a low/no-code end-to-end platform that lets companies roll their own computer vision stack, and they just pulled in $9.2M to scale up.

Each week we’ll be spotlighting some of the most exciting start-ups you haven't heard of yet. This week we decided to look at some exciting health start-ups...

The Gut Stuff is a health and wellness initiative with a refreshing perspective. Founded by DJs, The Mac Twins, who started as far from the health and wellness world as one can imagine, their journey began when they became part of the TwinsUK research at King's College London, which led them to understand the significant variations in gut health. Their mission is to make digestive health accessible and relatable, challenging the stereotypes associated with wellness. They've gathered an expert team of scientists, nutritionists, dietitians, and doctors to provide trustworthy information and launched initiatives like supper clubs, online clinics, and pop-up clinics to address digestive issues. The Gut Stuff is on a mission to bring the science of the gut to everyone, offering insights, community, and practical solutions.

Meet Jude, a groundbreaking healthcare company on a mission to break the silence around bladder issues and empower individuals to live life confidently without the fear of incontinence. Jude is all about co-creation, with their bladder-care essentials being designed and tested by their community, delivering life-changing solutions for countless women. They offer free discussions with medical specialists, creating a safe space for sharing self-care tips and health hacks. By focusing on bladder care, Jude addresses a significant gap in healthcare conversations. Their approach is all about tackling the root causes rather than just addressing symptoms, working closely with leading doctors and gynaecologists. Jude's commitment extends to sustainability, using green processes and compostable products, making them better for both your body and the planet.

Fertifa stands at the forefront of reproductive healthcare as the UK's leading provider, committed to making these essential services accessible to all. Founded with the fundamental goal of inclusivity and empowerment, Fertifa offers a safe and educational space for individuals to take control of their reproductive health, irrespective of their journey. They firmly believe in workplace support for employees navigating reproductive health, offering a range of core services that encompass fertility, menopause, family formation, men's health, and women's health. Fertifa is dedicated to ensuring that everyone feels supported during life's significant events, such as becoming parents or experiencing the menopause.

Got a low budget and a team of people who just love what you do? It’s definitely time to take a leaf out of Thursday Dating’s book! The team at Thursday dating are known the world over for their creative attempts to get searching singles through the doors at their events and on their app. From creative word play on white boards, to courageous stunts with cardboard and balloons, Thursday have done it all!

These Guerilla-style marketing acts really turn heads on the street, leaving passers-by curious as to what it’s all about. However, the real magic happens when the pictures get posted across social media accounts. Just on Thursday’s social media accounts alone, these marketing tricks have accumulated hundreds of thousands of interactions - it’s impossible to put a number on how many eyes they got on these stunts with all the members of public posting it on their social media accounts too.

Could you get out on to the street with a cleverly written sign to really catch people’s attention?

As start-up founders ourselves, one of the areas we’re really passionate about is raising awareness of opportunities. If you’re not mixing in the right circles, it can be really easy to miss a pitch event, or job opportunity that could be game-changing for you. We’ve included a few upcoming events and opportunities below, but this is where we really want to leverage our community of innovators. Please reply to this email with any tips and opportunities you think we should be featuring.

💼 Job opportunities

💊 Product Designer, Sano Genetics
🏠 Mid-Level Product Designer, Homey!
💳 Software Engineer, Cheddar

🎤 Events

On 6th November, British Business Bank are hosting an event in Cardiff on Demystifying early stage equity finance. At this event you’ll hear all about early stage equity finance and how to ensure your start-up is in the best possible position before and after raising investment. They have presentations from their expert partners introducing early stage equity and panels on understanding investors and maintaining momentum post-investment. Plus, there'll be time at the end for networking amongst your peers.

Tramshed Tech are launching two new programmes:

Greentech Catalyst Accelerator is a 12-week programme which aims to accelerate the growth and impact of environmentally focused businesses that have the potential to contribute to a more sustainable future Pan-Wales. The programme will provide the selected businesses with timely training, expert advice, network support, and access to funding to allow them to thrive.

The Convergent Content Programme aims to forge powerful connections between Wales' vibrant tech, media and creative sectors. This programme offers a range of immersive workshops, industry-driven events and mentorship whereby creative, media, and tech organisations across Wales can explore fresh ways of creating and distributing content as well as reaching new audiences. The programme is committed to diversity and inclusion, making the metaverse accessible to more people and promoting collaboration.

💷 Funding opportunities

Innovate UK is offering up to £25 million in loans to micro, small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Innovate UK innovation loans are for highly innovative late stage research and development (R&D) projects with the best potential for the future. There must be a clear route to commercialisation and economic impact. Your project must lead to innovative new products, processes or services that are significantly ahead of others currently available, or propose an innovative use of existing products, processes or services. It can also involve a new or innovative business model.

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

This week we came across a great AI tool for easily building slick decks, presentations, documents and websites (perfect for founders wanting to create a sexy pitch deck) - Gamma App is a revolutionary platform for presenting ideas that breaks free from traditional slide formats. Fueled by AI, Gamma empowers users to create diverse outputs like documents and webpages with ease. Its business-oriented templates, such as "Company Fact Sheet," "Sales Presentation," and "Deal Review," cater to professional users, while features like Q&As, custom branding, and analytics enhance the overall experience. With Gamma, you can start writing and effortlessly generate engaging content, eliminating the need for tedious formatting and design work. Whether presenting live or sharing webpages, Gamma provides flexibility and accessibility, enabling you to captivate your audience with embedded elements like GIFs, videos, charts, and more. Measure engagement, facilitate collaboration, and bring your ideas to life seamlessly on any device.

Next week we’ll be looking at how a struggling marketplace start-up pivoted to video recording software to secure a $975m exit, how one company broke tiktok with simple videos and 0 budget, along with highlighting more great tools and start-up news.

P.S. Connect with us on LinkedIn…