Building successful impact ventures

Our mission is to flip the odds for impact startups from 90% failure to 90% success by matching great ideas with funding and proven, successful digital product execution.

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The private accelerator programme for Impact-focused startups in the UK

"The partnership we've established with the Impact Builder is the best and fastest activating partnership we've had in 12 years."

—One of our Impact Builder VCs

We back startups that are good for humans, nature and the planet.

The Impact Builder Go programme unlocks £300k total value for your startup: you invest £50k (+VAT), and receive £150k in digital product services, plus £150k in raised capital.

What we provide

Fundraising: Proactive, hands-on support helping your startup raise at least £200k from our network of funds, foundations and angel investors, of which £150k goes directly to you.
Digital product delivery: The Impact Builder is a fixed-price, variable scope programme designed to accelerate your startup to the next milestone of your journey. Whether you need help with roadmapping, proof of concepts, MVP creation, or you’re iterating your UX, UI, or adding AI or new features.

Digital product delivery is executed by our digital product studio, ASquared. The funds we raise are intended to fuel your startup's growth plan, giving you runway and momentum.

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"From the first conversations that I had with Scott and Ant, I felt that I had met the ‘good people’ of the investor community. The culture of the company that Ant has created filters throughout the team that I work with day to day. They are intelligent, curious and driven to create the best product that they can, and work alongside me in a positive and professional way. I am excited to get my product into the hands of those that need it the most – and I am convinced that the ASquared team feel the same way."

Louise , CEO

ReelLife Conversations

We first met Ant through a networking event and were immediately impressed by his knowledge and drive to support early-stage startups. Since joining the Asquared programme, he’s delivered on his promises and remains engaged — most notably by helping us secure crucial funding that has been instrumental to our progress so far.

Mike & Neil, Founders

Levlr

"It's a very early stage for us, we're just two weeks in, but Ant and Scott seem great, the product studio appears top class, and we've already got our first investment ticket over the line with further investor meetings lined up for next week. Exciting times."

Steve Atkinson

ChestPal

The IB team brings not only deep experience but also a powerful network and a genuine commitment to seeing founders succeed. We’re working closely together and are proud to have ASquared as a partner on our journey. We’re confident he’ll deliver on the second phase of funding too and are excited about what’s ahead.

Mike & Neil

Levlr

For your investment of £50k (+VAT), you receive £300k total value

Here's how the programme breaks down

£150k in digital product services Our studio works at one-third of our standard studio day rate during this programme, giving you 150 days of expert product design, development and delivery. This discount represents our skin-in-the-game commitment to your success.
£150k in raised capital We work alongside you to raise £200k from our investor network of angels, VCs and funds with deep expertise in impact ventures. Of this £200k raise, £150k goes directly to you to fuel growth, whilst £50k compensates us for the discounted studio rates (our "funding guarantee").
Our equity stake: £50k In exchange for working at heavily discounted rates, we take £50k of equity in your startup (percentage dependent on your valuation). This aligns our interests because we only succeed when you do.

The funding guarantee If we're jointly unable to secure the £200k+ raise within the agreed timeframe, you don't owe us the £50k from the raise. You'll still receive the full £150k worth of digital product services, meaning you've exchanged £50k cash and £50k equity for £150k of digital product development. Either way, you win.
Raising funds in parallel? Absolutely fine. There are no restrictions on you raising additional capital through other channels during the programme - many of our founders do exactly this as part of larger rounds.
No introduction fees We don't charge fees for investor introductions, though some VCs or angel groups may charge success fees (typically 5-10%) if you choose to work with them.

Is your startup eligible?

If you're building something that matters, here's what makes your startup even more appealing for us and our investors.

None of these are deal breakers, apart from your impact and your contribution to kick-start the programme.

UK-based

Ideally you’re based on the South Coast or in the South East of the UK

Impact

You have a positive people, planet and/or nature impact at your core

Revenue

You’re pre-revenue or post-revenue, but either way are focused on getting there

Digital Product

You have a business critical need for digital products (e.g. mobile app, web app, SaaS platform)

Match-funding

You’re able to contribute £50k (+VAT) to the programme. It is preferred (but not essential) for applicants to have at least £150k of SEIS available

Fundraising

You have a fundraising vision. But you can be at any stage: bootstrapping, previous raises, current raises…heading to series A

100% Impact Focused

We only work with startups with impact and financial performance in lockstep

Funding solutions for Pre-revenue to Series A

Our founder-friendly match-funding solutions range from £300k to £3m depending on your startup stage and need

More than capital

Digital design and development experts ASquared, and hand-selected Growth Partners give your startup an unfair advantage

Good Actor Pledge

We're in this together. Our 'Good Actor Pledge' secures long term interest, and ensures that our services are aligned with your startup's success. We work at a third of our typical day rate for you, which is essentially no profit, until we secure your funding

Application process

Here’s what the application process might look like

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Step 1

Complete our quick application form

step 2

After reviewing your application, we schedule an online intro meeting to learn about your startup, clarify the programme and jointly ask and answer questions

step 3

We host an in person Pitch2Pitch session where you pitch your startup and we pitch ASquared, our digital product studio. This is where we jointly define the genuine need for £150k of digital product execution and give you an overview of our intended funding strategy

step 4

Go/No-Go milestone for you and the Impact Builder. We only move forward if we're both aligned in the programme fit and we’re confident we can raise with you

step 5

Contract review and signature. An initial £150k commitment in services is made by ASquared and £50k (+VAT) match is deposited by the startup

step 6

Fundraising and digital product work begins. Either in lockstep or one ahead of the other according to your strategy. We also kick off digital product studio induction and project discovery

step 7

Our typical digital product studio projects last 4-6 months and access significant design and development resources. Our fundraising programme normally runs for 6 months, but usually sees success around 2-4 months in

Building successful impact ventures

Fundraising

De-risking technology

Pre-revenue & beyond

The private accelerator programme for Impact-focused startups in the UK

What we provide