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21 March 2024
The participants that take part in Pitchfest are people like you. The entrepreneurs and managers who where looking for investment and support to help them do great things with their ideas and businesses
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Below is the view from a past finalist telling you in their own words how taking part helped them to take their business forward with the experience, advice and in some cases investment they received.
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Karl Drage, Smart Renewable Heat - www.smartrenewableheat.com
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What does your business do?
Smart Renewable Heat are a leading Designer and Installer of Turn-Key, Energy Efficient, Renewable Heat Systems, into the Self Build, Off-Grid and Small Commercial Markets.
What prompted you to enter Pitchfest?
At the time we were in a funding round.
Did you enjoy the Pitchfest experience?
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The pitch fest experience was useful and enjoyable. The process helped me sharpen my pitch, and prepared me for many similar pitches to investors.
What were you looking to fund with any investment won?
We were looking for investment for growth.
Did you get any interest from potential investors after taking part in Pitchfest?
We did get interest from potential investors. We did a lot of work towards our funding round, so it wasn’t the only contributing factor, but it certainly helped.
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Pitchfest helped towards our successful funding round of £150,000 SEIS funding. It also introduced us to Climate Kic, with who we went on to win £20k in a regional competition, and also the Goldman Sachs 10k Small Businesses growth programme, which we are now on.
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Have you now managed to achieve your development aspirations?
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We have grown very quickly, an well exceeded our early development aspirations. We envisaged launching and establishing a £1m t/o business in the first year, whereas we have grown to be three times that size.
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Who inspires you to do what you do?
Great Engineers and Leaders. I read a lot of biographies. I’ve just finished reading Steve Jobs’, which is inspirational. I’m mostly inspired by my kids and my desire to provide them with a great future.
Where do you see your company in five year’s time?
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In five years I would hope to be of a significant larger scale, and possibly bought out, or invested in by a large partner company.
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Pitchfest
