Case studies
The company
Holly Health is a revenue generating, female-founded Healthtech start-up. They support individuals to keep on top of their mental and physical health through achievable habits, preventing burnout and rebuilding a healthier relationship with food, exercise and work. Holly Health is scaling across NHS primary care practices and with local authorities, supporting thousands. The Holly Heath app (mobile, web and SMS) supports individuals on their personal health journey, improves mental wellbeing and creates a happier, healthier life over the long term.
The challenge
CEO, Grace Gimson and her team of scientists, clinicians and entrepreneurs had achieved significant success, also closing their EIS funding round. Having obtained government funding and with contracts in place with a number of Primary Care Networks, they had seen their app downloaded 20,000+ times. The team were open to the idea of connecting with VOCASO community members, seeking individuals with experience of high-growth B2C tech environments and those with. primary care experience for a Non-Executive Director or board advisor role.
The success
Steve Woodford was, until mid-2022, Chief Information Officer at BGL Group (home of Comparethemarket.com) and a member of the senior executive team that successfully sold Comparethemarket.com's insurance business to Markerstudy Group. Since March 2021 Steve has been a Non-Executive Director of NHS Digital, a member of the Investment Committee and the Information Assurance and Cyber Security Committee. Steve has a strong track record of leading technology-enabled business transformation for global organisations in fast-moving, highly regulated sectors.
Steve and Grace immediately clicked; Holly Health fits Steve’s ambitions to support high-growth, purpose-led businesses whose values mirror his, whilst Holly Health will surely benefit from Steve’s significant expertise as they continue to grow and flourish.
The company
Sprout's investment platform that allows private investors to access top performing venture capital funds. Private markets have outperformed the stock market every year for over two decades, but remain inaccessible. Through the Sprout platform, investors can access the most exclusive private market fund opportunities globally, traditionally reserved for those capable of writing cheques in excess of £5m+.
Sprout was founded by three outstanding entrepreneurs; in their first year they successfully launched their platform, partnered with top funds and have seen thousands of qualified investors sign up.
The challenge
After successfully closing their pre-seed round, Sprout approached VOCASO to identify community members with regulatory expertise and private markets experience, in addition to those with relationships with wealth managers and private banks. Sprout were seeking Board Advisors, potentially leading to formal Non-Executive Director roles.
The success
VOCASO introduced a tenured financial services professional whose career has included roles with a regulator, as CEO of a P2P lending business and as founder/CEO of a successful fintech company. Keen to leverage her experience, passion for growth companies and deep sector knowledge, our community member is excited to support this innovative growth company.
The company
Tevva Hydrogen Electric Trucks is the first company to start high-volume production of electric lorries in the UK. The company's 7.5 tonne electric truck has received European type approval. Tevva, plans to build hydrogen-powered lorries capable of refilling faster than battery-powered lorries charge. Those lorries would come in 12 and 19 tonne models, with production scheduled to start in Tilbury, Essex in 2024. Tevva is planning expand to the EU, the US and the Gulf.
The challenge
Tevva, having secured series A funding were readying themselves for a significant funding round. They sought a US-based Non-Executive Director to ensure the governance infrastructure would withstand US scrutiny. This Non-Executive Director could independently assess strategy, performance and resources allocation, including key appointments and also possess demonstrable investor relations and Audit Committee chair credentials.