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Bristol ‘experiences’ company Yuup secures further £200k to support growth plans
A Bristol tech company that collates different “fun” activities on offer in the city region has secured a further £200k investment.
Yuup, which developed during the first lockdown in 2020 to help hundreds of small creative business owners offering experiences – such as art, exercise and food classes – to reach a wider audience, has secured investment through local impact investors Bristol & Bath Regional Capital.
The injection of cash will help the company to continue growing its presence in Bristol and strengthen its expansion in Birmingham, where it launched last year.
The online platform uses a curator model, hiring people with expertise in a thematic or geographic area and assisting the hosts in setting up and managing the experiences and activities. This enables new hosts to create attractive and marketable events that often open new income streams to sole traders and SMEs.
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In September 2021, Bristol & Bath Regional Capital approved an initial £250k of investment from City Funds into Yuup as equity. As part of this investment, Yuup set out to grow its service to 60,000 experiences sold annually in Bristol, with a target of an annual sales figure of £120k and a particular focus on curating over 400 hosts from the city’s under-represented communities – identified as ‘target communities’ by City Funds.
Yuup has achieved these targets, with 26% of hosts coming from under-represented communities, 60% of all host income going into these communities and in total over £1.9m generated to date for Yuup experience hosts.
Dominic Mills, chief executive, Yuup, said: “Since launching Yuup in 2021, we’ve had phenomenal success, supporting over 400 small businesses and entrepreneurs, and bringing new experiences to tens of thousands of people. We have ambitious growth plans for the platform and are excited that Bristol & Bath Regional Capital has decided to re-invest in Yuup, further supporting us on the next stage of our journey as we continue to scale both the business and our impact.”
Ryan Munn, investment business development manager at Bristol & Bath Regional Capital, said: “Yuup is a real impact success story, directing entertainment spending into Bristol’s local communities and addressing economic inequalities at the same time, all backed by an incredible management team. A growing customer base and exciting new experiences prove that Yuup is hitting the mark. We’re excited that this further investment boosts the platform to the next level.”
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