E-commerce startup Basket bags funding from BrewDog’s James Watt in hunt for Britain’s next unicorn
E-commerce platform, Basket, has secured undisclosed funding from James Watt, founder of BrewDog.
This comes after Basket took part in Watt’s The Next Unicorn project, where he teamed up with Crowdcube to invest in UK startups that could become the next British unicorn.
This investment model will also let members of the public invest, on the same terms as Watt, into the shortlisted businesses.
Basket is a mobile app and browser extension that lets users save products from any online retailer into one ‘basket’. The firm will then keep checking prices automatically and notify people when there's a price drop on the things they’ve got their eye on.
Having launched its beta in September 2022, the app and browser extension has thus far been used by 50,000 people to track 550,000 products, saving consumers a total of over £10 million.
The Next Unicorn process saw Lex Deak, the founder of Basket, competing against hundreds of other businesses with a shortlist of 20 pitching at Watt’s penthouse in London, where he was joined on the panel by TV star Dom Joly and investor Codie Sanchez.
Deak was invited to a final showdown at the new BrewDog venue in Las Vegas, where Basket was awarded the top investment of £250k.
Deak says: "The way people buy things online - and the decision making process they go through - has remained largely unchanged since online shopping began. This doesn't serve consumers or retailers or anyone else in the supply chain as well as it should, and that’s what Basket is aimed at shaking up.”
“This funding from James is a vote of confidence in our vision and the huge potential we know there is for Basket to change the game across industries and geographies.”
“We’re well positioned to lead in an era where e-commerce isn’t just about buying and selling products online, but about creating meaningful and personalised shopping experiences.”
“More practically, the cash injection enables us to expedite our plans and carry out more product development even sooner, and expand into new sectors and markets. Our primary goal remains consistent: to provide the best shopping experience for consumers while enabling retailers to thrive in the digital economy."
Watt says: “It’s difficult to find real innovation in tech and e-commerce, but Basket is something I would 100% use myself. It genuinely helps the consumer and I think it’s got applications in the UK and globally.”
The funding round forms part of a wider £2 million raise, which has seen Basket receive backing from the likes of Eric Lefkofsky, the co-founder of Groupon; Darren Westlake, the CEO and co-founder of Crowdcube; Justine Roberts, CEO and founder of Mumsnet and Gransnet; and Jonathan Quin, co-founder of World First.
The next phase of this round will involve Basket aiming to raise £2 million through Crowdcube.
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