Tech start-up business lands £1m worth of funding
A technology firm has raised £1m in its first ever investment round.
Spacebands has received investment from the Evergreen Mountain Equity Partners (a US VC fund) and local angel investors from Bristol Private Equity Club.
The company creates wearable technology and software that improves workplace safety by preventing accidents, injuries and deaths in dangerous work environments.
The brand-new wearable and SaaS platform (app and web-app) will alert for a multitude of hazards that will protect businesses by preventing workplace injuries, reducing staff sickness and enabling workplace wellness whilst collating a paper trail of live safety data points.
Employers will be able to make informed decisions about their workplace safety and will be able to monitor workplace stressors whilst prompting employees to action wellness at work.
Spacebands was formed in the first lockdown in April 2020, creating a wearable contact tracing and social distancing device that helped thousands of businesses around the world operate seamlessly through the pandemic.
The company has now pivoted and has created a new multi-feature hazard alert system.
The technology monitors external, environmental hazards, anticipates potential accidents, and gives real-time data on stress in hazardous environments.
Founders Harry Kimberley-Bowen and Ronan Finnegan, both 28, met at school in Bath and are now based in Bristol.
Spacebands have built a team who have successfully commercialised sensor innovation and created a £4m UK company in just 18-months.
The company is part of Bristol’s SETsquared incubator based in the Engine Shed and has been approved for the Innovate UK Future Economy Fund grant for £250,000.
The company is using these funds to finesse its new product that is launching imminently and growing the team.
Harry Kimberley-Bowen said: “Our innovative technology can help to prevent unnecessary accidents, injuries and deaths in hazardous workplaces whilst keeping businesses operating seamlessly.
“The market opportunity for this new safety device is vast. Our target markets are manufacturing, production and construction – these are busy and hazardous work environments which typically makes it difficult to implement effective health and safety protocols.
“The majority of our existing customer base (around 70 per cent) work in these target sectors, so we have a good understanding of what innovations these sectors need, as we’re in constant talks with health and safety personnel in these areas. “Employers are under increasing pressure to show that they’re doing all possible to decrease levels of risk around the workplace and set a higher standard when it comes to hazard prevention.”
