AXA has partnered up with the Evening Standard for the third year running in search of the UK's best new startup business idea through out AXA Startup Angel Competition.
With £25,000 of business funding and first-class mentoring from our AXA Startup Angels up for grabs for the two top winners, we saw a record number of entries for this year’s competition!
Consistently impressed with the originality and creativity of ideas from entrants year on year, it was no easy task for our judges to choose winning entries. So, let's meet one of our top prize winners, WeDonate, founded by Steve King and Alex Last.
Congratulations again! Can you explain your business idea to us in your own words?
Steve: WeDonate is a closed members rewards platform that exists to recognise blood and plasma donors. Essentially, the aim is for the platform to offer blood and plasma donors discounts at their favourite brands as thanks for doing something positive to help save lives. Giving blood is an incredible and selfless act, and we want to reward that. The people who donate blood, they’re not just giving their blood, they’re giving up their time to do it and that should be recognised.
What inspired you to apply to AXA Startup Angel?
Steve: We saw the AXA Startup Angel competition on social media and thought it seemed like a brilliant opportunity for us. The way the competition works really appealed to us, as we’re not keen on giving away equity in the business.
I have family members who were saved as a result of blood transfusions and that experience really helped shape WeDonate. Alex and I both became blood donors as a result and witnessed first-hand the lack of donations from young people. From there, we looked into the issues further and found that there was a real need for younger donors. Particularly over the last five years, the number of young donors has really tanked.
So, for us, the real appeal of the AXA Startup Angel competition is that we can get equity-free funding, which means that we can stay true to our vision. We don't have to sell the company and run the risk of someone directing it down the wrong path, we can be fully in control. Having the Evening Standard and AXA behind us really helps us, exposure wise. Especially when it comes to us offering discounts, having such reputable brands behind us will help settle any nerves potential signups may have.
We've touched on the inspiration behind WeDonate, can you tell us more?
The most important thing for us is the message behind WeDonate, and where the idea came from. We want to stay true to our mission, and that mission comes from our own experiences. Having family members in need of blood transfusions was a stressful time and it was at this point we thought, ‘Wait a minute, I don’t even donate? Why haven’t I done this?’ and it grew from there. We really want to make a difference, and we really want to save lives.
How did it feel to hear We Donate's name called as one of the top prize winners?
Steve: Surreal, it felt surreal! We were over the moon to even be attending the award ceremony! It was a real 'Wow, is this really happening?' kind of moment.
Alex: All of the same, as well as feeling incredibly proud. We’ve put a load of work in the last few months especially, and to see it comes to fruition was great. It gave us real validation for our business idea.
What does winning mean to you?
Steve: I think for us, winning this award solidifies that this isn’t just an idea anymore, it’s a business. Even to know that other people think it’s a great idea, too.
How did you both enjoy the awards ceremony, did you have a chance to network?
Steve: We both really enjoyed it! The layout was brilliant, and we had the chance to network and chat with other startups and co-founders. We got to have a lot of really good converations, and even take a goodie bag home!
Alex: It was also great to see the level of competition in the room. There were some really good business ideas, and having the chance to chat with them was really interesting.
What's your plans for the £25,000 prize money?
Steve: Alex and I have both been working 9-5s, so we’ve been building WeDonate slowly in the background, which as you can image has been quite stressful. With the prize money, we’ll be able to give the business the attention it needs and give WeDonate a proper launch!
The second thing the prize money will really help with is spreading the word of WeDonate. We want to draw as much attention as possible to how blood donation saves lives. Something that even we only recently became aware of is the fact that each blood donation can save up to three lives. I think if that message was more prominent in the market, more young people would be more inclined to donate. And the more people who donate, the more lives saved.
What does the future look like for WeDonate?
Steve: We want WeDonate to be a platform that’s best in class in the market for discount and offers with UK-based retailers for our users. We also want to really grow the business and get our message out there, we want WeDonate to come to people’s mind when they think of blood donation, we want our mission to be known.
We also want to really grow the business and get our message out there. We want WeDonate to come to people’s mind when they think of blood donation, and we want our mission to be known. We’d love to expand our relationship with charities and maybe even government bodies, if possible, to help really accelerate our message.