GridDuck Is Raising Investment
Capital at RIsk. Approved by Seedrs.
GridDuck is inviting new investors to our fundraise. If you are passionate about sustainability, tech or energy then please take a look at our campaign page at seedrs.com/grid-duck.
GridDuck is returning to Seedrs to launch our new investment campaign, a year after we first raised on Seedrs. We are looking for investors who share our passion for renewable energy, technology and helping businesses to become more sustainable.
But what have our greatest achievements been since the last raise? Why is now the right time for investors to consider us? And what do we aim to achieve with new investment? This article will answer each of these questions.
In the past year, we’ve seen energy in headlines across the world with both domestic and businesses price hikes contributing to a “cost of living crisis”, alongside many supplier closures. We’ve adapted our approach in the wake of COVID-19 and have seen new use cases for GridDuck arising. With all of this in mind, the world of energy, GridDuck and perhaps even the world in general feels like a very different place now.
We have also made a number of significant advancements in our product offering; doubled our workforce; moved offices and gained many wonderful new clients.
Why We Believe Now is the Right Time for Investment in GridDuck
Recovering from the economic uncertainty of COVID-19 has not been easy for any business, and we are no exception to that. Over the past year, we have seen several of our key target sectors face enormous losses.
However, we have also seen the disastrous consequences of rising energy prices in businesses, with many of our clients reporting higher utility outgoings than ever before prior to their GridDuck installation. With many commercial energy contracts renewing this year, and prices expected to continue rising throughout the coming years, businesses are under greater pressure than ever to reduce their utility costs. Fortunately, we have the expertise and functionality to help businesses target this issue.
Furthermore, government and consumer demands for sustainability have grown considerably across many sectors since 2020. For example, “New global research conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), commissioned by WWF, shows a staggering 71% rise in popularity of searches for sustainable goods over the past five years, with continuing growth during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Whether motivated by the dire state of rising utility costs or their drive to demonstrate sustainability, each of the client testimonials we have gathered in the last year has affirmed our mission. Our clients themselves demonstrate that the benefits of our product in 2022 outweigh the costs incurred, or hesitations businesses may have, about getting GridDuck.
How Have We Grown Since the Last Investment Raise?
With a wider reach across each sector and a more resourced effort to find new clients, we have been able to better evaluate which areas of our business are working best. We have been able to identify which new features our clients and potential clients want to see from our platform, and make them a reality.
For example, over the past year, we have integrated triple monitoring, helped small businesses to balance on-site renewables and built up new contacts as well as case studies in agriculture and manufacturing.
We have also worked hard to secure installations in more hospitality businesses, in particular “dark”/”cloud” kitchens and restaurants with multiple sites. GridDuck’s steady uptake with a number of high profile clients has demonstrated the need for our product across this market, especially in the wake of rising gas prices.
We have improved life for our current clients by including pay-monthly options, alongside adding new hardware to our product list, for example, our own monitoring and automation-ready plug socket outlet. We have integrated with Stripe to make payment easy and straightforward, and most recently, added new data features as well as a summary page for gas, water and electricity monitoring. We truly believe that we have made enormous progress in establishing GridDuck as the ubiqutous, all-in-one monitoring system.
GridDuck’s company community has grown and changed considerably in the past year.
After hiring our first Sales Manager, Miles Browne, GridDuck stood at a team of 5 in late 2020. Once we raised investment shortly afterwards, we were able to hire a Marketing Executive, Leah Barron Stevens, two Trainee Sales Development Managers, Shakirul Islam and Shaquille King N’Da and a part-time Chief Financial Officer, Jeremy Kraft.
Investing in more Sales staff allowed us to work intensely within specific sectors, and grow our client relationships considerably. Investing in Marketing allowed us to expand our digital reach through case studies, free resources, email marketing and social media marketing, driving new leads for our Sales team. With the help of our new part-time Chief Financial Officer, we have been able to advance our financial planning and forecasting, ensuring a strong product-market fit remains central to all of our plans.
In 2021, we were also fortunate enough to move to a larger office in Highbury and Islington. Better transport links, hardware storage and a third floor view overlooking the shard, as well as calling booths for our new sales staff, has allowed us to more comfortably accommodate day-to-day life and collaborative work within the business.
Our Page at Seedrs.com
Our Plans
We’ve come a long way in terms of gaining new clients, improving the experience of our current clients, advancing our technology and growing our company culture. Any investment granted to us now will fuel us in the next leg of our journey, and we’ve got even bigger plans.
We believe that now is the time for GridDuck to reach beyond the UK. The energy crisis is just not a national one, but a global issue, and will be around for a few years. Having gained new clients in France, the Netherlands and Ireland, we believe that now is the time to advance our reach. We are working with a lead generation agency with expertise working in European markets and have had good meetings with potential clients there.
Alongside our plans to expand geographically, we also aim to develop our technology, with more ranking and analysis features being added to our dashboard in order to help businesses and their energy experts more effectively track their progress.
We also intend to further our marketing activities, publishing energy waste reports and improving our site traffic with more online tools similar to our current Energy Savings Calculator. We will attend more sector-specific events, which have been especially successful this year, and will deliver a new indirect marketing strategy for targeting installers and consultants.
Finally, we aim to expand our expertise in each of our target sectors, funding more telephone outreach and site visits. We believe that all of this combined will secure us another successful year. We hope you can join us for the ride!
To view our investment campaign in full, please visit our Seedrs page. To arrange a 15-minute, no obligation meeting with our Sales team, please use Calendly.