SmartyPlants

You'd think being asked to leave after you've pitched to 30 investors would be a bad thing. At Leeds Angels it's the format. Four founders, three minutes each, ten minutes of questions, then you're ushered out so the investors can talk among themselves. They're mostly ex-operators themselves, and they really focus on how they can help the businesses they select. This is the format they found that gives the best outcomes. Judging by the conversations before we left, I can believe it. They were full of sharp questions and insights. Some investors didn't even wait for the follow-up to share that they were interested in continuing the conversation. I was one of four founders pitching on Wednesday, the other three brilliant founders/businesses were: - Ciara Flannery at Enough Energy - Felix Hughes at Bueno - June Angelides, MBE at MyPholyo Thank you to Hazel Savage, Chang Choon Fah, Mark Roberts and Jason Crispin for hosting us and making the room so welcoming. If you're a founder and you're raising, put Leeds Angels on your radar. They're a Leeds-based angel group with a preference for UK businesses, not just Leeds, but will look at exceptional businesses from anywhere. They also have the most founder friendly terms I've seen: no charge to pitch, no fees on investments. It's competitive to get into the room, but it's well worth applying.

We've been keeping another massive secret, but can finally share that we have been recognised in Fast Company's Innovation by Design awards. It's been described as "the worlds most prestigious design competition" and it's not just about how a product looks. They assess functionality, originality, beauty, sustainability, depth of user insight, cultural impact and business impact. They are reviewed over months by Fast Company's editors alongside an outside jury, including: - Kelly Wearstler, one of the most influential interior designers working today. - Zac Posen, Creative Director of Gap Inc. and Chief Creative Officer of Old Navy. - Eames Demetrios, director of the Eames Office and grandson of Charles and Ray Eames, whose furniture defined what most people picture when they picture modern design. - Katy O'Brien, Head of Sustainable Innovation at New Balance. - Abidur Chowdhury, who spent years as an industrial designer at Apple. Last year, ~2,000 projects were entered, and today we can share that SmartyPlants has been named a finalist in the 'On the Rise category', reserved for companies that have been in business less than four years. I'm especially proud of this, as it's a recognition of the incredible work done by our whole team - not just in the design of the physical product, but recognising the depth of the work we have put into understanding our customers and solving the problem of plant care in a way that fits into their lives and home. #fcdesignawards

We’re bringing two investors and two experienced founders together for our next Grishin Robotics event. 🥳 🥳 If you’re a founder navigating product, physical tech, fundraising and everything in between, come join us on 2nd October for a session on fundraising for physical startups. Meet the panel: 👉 Katherine Orrell is an investor at JamJar Investments, an early-stage consumer VC whose portfolio includes Deliveroo, Runna, Healf and Tony's Chocolonely. 👉 Alex Bateman is the founder and managing partner of Ambition Capital, investing from Pre-Seed to Series A and providing expansion capital to high-growth businesses. 👉 Ben Beavers is the founder of SmartyPlants and a Grishin Robotics Accelerator alumnus. SmartyPlants has generated £140k in pre-launch sales, sold 5,500 sensors and recently appeared on BBC’s Dragons’ Den. 👉 Romi Mathew is the co-founder of Roam smart tracker and a Grishin Robotics Accelerator alumnus. Roam has shipped to 81 countries and generated more than $1 million in revenue within seven months. The panel will be followed by Q&A and networking, giving you the chance to speak directly with the speakers and meet other founders. 📅 Friday, 2 October ⏰ 9:30am–12:30pm 📍 London ❗️Spaces are limited, don’t miss out on your spot. Register here 👉 https://luma.com/rt3frvjc

Two North West firms won investment on BBC show Dragons’ Den – with Steven Bartlett backing a Manchester plant technology firm and a pioneering pasta maker securing the backing of two Dragons. SmartyPlants founder Ben Beavers received offers from Steven Bartlett, Susie Ma and Touker Suleyman before accepting Steven's £100,000 offer, double the £50,000 investment he originally asked for. Meanwhile Northern Pasta Co. won the support of Deborah Meaden and Peter Jones after a successful presentation from co-founders Imogen Royall and Matt Kenyon. Read more: https://lnkd.in/e5T-xByu

It's been a whirlwind few days, and I wanted to pause to say thanks, and clear up one thing. Since SmartyPlants aired on Dragons' Den last Thursday, the messages, comments and kind words haven't stopped. Thank you. It means a lot, and I'm reading every one. I'm working my way through them all and will reply to everyone. Bear with me, it may take a little while. We filmed this in June last year, so it was cool to see where we were and how we've moved on since. But - when you heard me say we'd be shipping in Q4, that was Q4 2025, and we did ship on time. We're live now, and SmartyPlants is available to order through our website. Thank you to everyone who came and supported, everyone who watched from home and to MIGSO-PCUBED for hosting us!

🚀Monday fundraising Alert 🚀 Huge congratulations to Ben Beavers, founder of SmartyPlants, who secured £50k from Steven Bartlett on last week’s Dragons’ Den. Ben is alum of our Product Builder Programme, designed to help early-stage founders develop, test and validate their products. He’s now gone from building the idea to shipping thousands of monitors around the world and receiving three offers in the Den. SmartyPlants to the moon! 🌱🪴🚀 And If, like me, you can’t keep plants alive 👀 check them out 👇👇 Emma Marshall Joe Howard know you’ll both be buzzing to see this https://lnkd.in/eRHGq6iB

A big night for Ben and the team at SmartyPlants. We’ve had the pleasure of supporting Ben and the business on their journey, and tonight they’ll be stepping into one of the most famous rooms in UK business, Dragons’ Den. Building an early-stage company takes resilience, belief and a willingness to put yourself and your business out there. Walking into the Den and having five experienced investors scrutinise everything you’ve built takes that to another level. Whatever happens in the room, getting to this stage is a brilliant achievement and fantastic exposure for the business. We’ll be watching and supporting the team tonight. 📺 SmartyPlants on Dragons’ Den 🕗 8pm 📍 BBC One Best of luck, Ben and team. 🌱

Tonight's the night. At 8pm, SmartyPlants is on Dragons' Den. BBC One. Filming it was surreal. I grew up watching the show, so walking down that corridor and pressing the button for the lift was a genuine out of body experience. You get a brief pitch, and then the five Dragons start firing questions non-stop about the product and the business. Picking it apart before we'd even got to market. No script, no second takes, no idea what's coming next. It's by far the most intense thing I've taken on with the business to date. But what a privilege to have five experienced business minds challenging, critiquing and advising on what we'd built. Keeping it quiet since has been the hard part. For 18 months, whenever anyone asked whether we'd ever go on Dragons' Den, I've had to avoid the question. Finally we can properly talk about it! It was a long time ago now, but I remember most of what happened in that room. What I don't know is how it's been edited, so I'm very excited and more than a little nervous to watch it back with everyone else tonight. So, deal or no deal? How do you think we got on? Give it a watch at 8pm on BBC One, and tag us in your reactions over on Instagram @smartyplants.uk. We'll be right there watching along with you.