“Initially we funded it ourselves. We had to really pinch the pennies, eating rice and beans!”

Oliver Bourne and Eliot Wood met on the first day of their Business degrees. Three years on they have just launched their company WYSPR, which aims to disrupt traditional digital and influencer marketing agency models with an approach they’ve named ‘friendvertising’.

Since graduating from Essex, Oliver and Eliot have received lots of support from the University’s Innovation Centre, which was only just opening when they graduated. In particular, they have benefited from guidance around funding routes that are available to start-ups such as WYSPR.

Oliver tells us more about the funding routes that helped them get started: ‘We’ve had a somewhat traditional approach to funding, especially for a tech company. Most companies get their seed fund, and then get a big bounce with investors and venture capitalist firms on board. WYSPR had a different approach.

Initially we funded it ourselves. We had to really pinch the pennies, eating rice and beans! We put a great deal of our income, about 50% of our internship income we sunk entirely into our initial costs to help product development, get off the ground and suddenly launch things.

The big thing that made the difference was winning two competitions that provided us with a massive amount of funding, well, relatively small for business, but for us, it was big! Around £33,000 allowed us to get to where we are now, which is a completed MVP (minimum viable product), an entire suite on the desktop, as well as the IOS application.

We have just secured our investment at a post money valuation of £1,000,000. So here we are with only 0.5% of our equity given away and a £1,000,000 valuation.’

Eliot reiterates the value of the guidance from Andy Mew and the Essex Startups Team at the Innovation Centre: ‘Definitely get in touch with the Innovation Centre. They’re really good at guiding those first steps and they’ll make you aware of local opportunities such as by the Council and funding routes that are opening up. For example, I know they’re just launching an investment platform now.’

It was the team at Essex Startups that encouraged Oliver and Eliot to enter WYSPR in the Santander Universities Emerging Entrepreneurs Programme. The five-month programme, which includes online workshops led by industry experts on the themes of marketing, money management and motivation, culminates in a national final, during which participants have to pitch their business to a panel of judges to claim the top prize of £30,000 plus ongoing mentoring support. There is also a runners-up prize of £20,000.

The pair’s approach to fundraising for their business shows that a proactive and tenacious attitude can have a real impact on a start-up’s success.