Future Drinks, a Bristol start-up company which has developed a range of fruity bottled drinks aimed at the health conscious female market, has received a £360,000 investment from a Government-backed business angel scheme.
The company will launch the drinks under the new Koji brand this summer following successful test marketing.
Based at Paintworks in Brislington, Future Drinks is one of five small and medium-sized UK business to receive between £360,000 and £3.6m from the Angel CoFund which has put up £1.4m of Government money and a further £5.8m from other investors.
Future Drinks was co-founded by Tim Chater, who has worked for multinational companies such as Nestle as well as Premier Foods on what he describes as “big and not so big brands; managed external sales and marketing agencies; developed marketing/ sales plans and executed them successfully".
Tim, the firm’s managing director and visiting lecturer at Bath Spa University where he is also studying for an Executive MBA, added: “I’ve experienced both ends of the scale in terms of business size, having worked for big multinationals and start-ups. I also enjoyed my time working in three strategic business units creating multi-country brand strategies. My key skills are in marketing management, business strategy and problem solving.”
The Angel CoFund was established by a consortium of business angel organisations, including Braveheart Investment Group, Hotspur Capital Partners, Octopus Investments and The Oxfordshire Investment Opportunity Network, and Capital for Enterprise.
Other businesses to gain investment include two digital companies, an online women's magazine and e-store – and a worldwide aggregator of games for internet-enabled TVs.
Business and enterprise minister Mark Prisk said: “The variety of businesses that are receiving this funding reveals the range of skills and exciting opportunities that are being created today. It is absolutely critical that ambitious small firms can access the finance that they need to expand and grow.”
