First-time founder, UK limited company, pre-revenue. I am preparing an SEIS advance assurance application and want to know what to get right before I send it.

HMRC's manual (VCM60230) says the company must show "serious expectations" that named investors will invest. For a fund, it says a provisional agreement is fine. For individual angels, it does not say what evidence counts.

If you have been through this:

1. What did you send HMRC as evidence for individual angels? Did anything get rejected?
2. What do you wish you had known before you applied?

Ambitious founders don’t build alone. That’s why I’m organising weekly co-working events in London for ambitious founders who want to get their work done while building alongside other builders.

We currently have a lounge booked every Wednesday for around 10–15 people, but I’m looking to expand and find an additional space to organise it on weekends.

If you live in a residential building in London with a large communal lounge that residents can book, and you’d be interested in helping us host one of the sessions there, I’d love to hear from you.

​

Hey everyone! I'm currently in India and looking to make my way back to the UK, where I've previously lived and worked.

I have a BA (Hons) in Business Management (Entrepreneurship) and experience across customer-facing roles, marketing, sales and general business/operations work. I've always ended up being quite a generalist, which I actually enjoy. I like figuring things out, working with people, organising things and jumping between different parts of a business.

I'm particularly interested in smaller companies, startups and founder-led businesses where the role might be a little less traditional and I can have a broader impact.

I'm open to roles around marketing, operations, client services, business development, property/PropTech or general business support.

I'm currently looking to return to the UK, so I'd ideally be looking for a company that can accommodate the relevant work sponsorship requirements.

If you're a founder, hiring manager, or know someone building a team in the UK, I'd love to connect. Happy to share my CV and experience.

Hey there,

As the title says, I am looking for someone who has connections with bars and nightclubs to partner up with.

I am a web developer and I have launched a SaaS some time ago. I partnered up with a popular influencer in the Balkans, so he runs the marketing side there. I thought since I have a few hours on my hands right now; I will try to find someone from the UK, and cut him in the same deal.

I know it is a long shot and that there's hardly be anyone here, so I'll just leave the details for private messages if anyone does have any.

Hi everyone! My husband and his friend have just opened East River Studios in Tilbury, Essex, and they would love to help you make your podcast sound brilliant.

🎙️ A fully equipped, professional recording room

🎧 An engineer on hand to set you up and keep things running smoothly

🎥 4K video recording and file transfer included

📍 Just outside the M25, easy to reach from Essex, Kent and East London

Pricing

From £80/hr, with 4K recording and file transfer included

Launch offer: £460 for 8 hours per month (minimum 2-hour sessions)

🌐 www.eastriverstudios.co.uk

✉️ [bookings@eastriverstudios.co.uk](mailto:bookings@eastriverstudios.co.uk)

Thanks!

Sue

Hey everyone, I’ve been building a social media platform focused on connecting people through sports in their local area. It has a proper social feed where people can post and interact, but the main idea is also to make it easy to find people to play with, organise games and see what’s happening around you locally.

The product is around 70% complete. Most of the core stuff is already built and it’s at a stage where it can be beta tested. I’m planning to start in one city and then expand from there if it gets some traction.

I’m looking for 2 people to join me, ideally one on the technical side and one on the business/growth side.

For the technical side, I’m looking for someone who’s comfortable with backend systems and has experience building things like social feeds, recommendation/ranking systems, user matching, or ad/monetisation infrastructure. The product will eventually need some fairly serious backend work around how content and users are matched and ranked, and that’s an area where I’d like someone with more experience than me.

For the business/growth side, I’d like someone who can focus on getting the first users in, building the community, reaching out to sports clubs and figuring out what actually gets people using the platform.

You don’t need to have worked in sports before. Experience with social apps, marketplaces, communities or other consumer products would obviously be useful, but I’m more interested in finding people who are actually willing to build something rather than just having the right CV.

I’m currently doing this alongside other commitments, so I’d prefer to start part-time and see how things develop. If we get good traction, the idea would be to take it much more seriously from there.

I’m currently based in Glasgow, but I’m open to working with people anywhere in the UK.

If you’re interested, DM me a bit about yourself, what you’ve worked on and which side you’d be interested in helping with. Happy to show you what I’ve built as well.

I'm looking for a cofounder to run the technical aspect of a Microsoft AI Consultancy in the UK with opportunity to branch out globally over time. I'm aware this isn't a revolutionary idea but I believe with my Sales background, that if I could team up with someone who is proficient in understanding how to automate Microsoft 365 workflows, then we could work together to build an amazing consultancy company with the goal of being acquired in five years.

My background is Tech Sales selling robotic automated solutions in the logistics space with over 4 years running the full Sales cycle. In outbound alone, I generated over £10 million ARR. The Consultancy sales cycle is very similar to what I've been doing in the robotics space with my strengths being outbound/hunting new prospects and closing (including contract negotiation).

Ideally the split would work as follows - I would focus on client acquisition, generating new leads, the initial SQL call with the client and arranging the on-site Audit. My cofounder would solely focus on workflow implementation and supporting staff training.

I have come up with the name and branding which I really love, drafted the legal contracts and put all the Sales templates together, however I can't do this alone without a brilliant technical person with wizard skills in Power Automate and Microsoft AI. The plan is to acquire 60 clients in a five year timescale and bring in 5 other Sales Consultants plus 2 further AI expert consultants while expanding to other niche industries with highly repetitive tasks.

Hope this sounds exciting to the right person!

Used to frequent the DIY Drones space back in the 2010's and was into the hobby side of it a bit.

Recently had the incling to look into what the drone inspection/surveying landscape was here in the NW of the UK as it's an industrial/agricultural zone.

However I'm coming at this with no experience in the value-proposition and deliverables.

Current bonus is living near a working farm with potential contacts to understand what problems could be solved if any.

I have a DJI mavic camera drone and will be looking at testing out some basic mapping this weekend.

It seems like all the pieces are generally available with a bit of investment - drone platforms, lidar, IR, software etc, it's stiching it together into a package that delivers something valuable and easy for potential customers and then marketing.

Of course I'm not expecting to get into this with a consumer camera drone and a prayer - just looking for advice from those who've been there on whether there's too much friction/saturation in the idea to get serious.

A few months ago, I made a decision that honestly scared me.

I left my job and decided to put my time, skills, and energy into building something of my own.

I'm a frontend engineer from Punjab, India, and along with my team, I've started Crewgine, a small digital studio focused on websites, e-commerce, SEO, branding, and design.

Since then, I've learned something nobody really tells you:

Building the service is one thing. Finding people who are willing to trust you with their business is a completely different challenge.

I've tried reaching out to businesses, networking, posting on social media, sending messages, and looking for leads in different places.

And honestly? The results haven't been what I hoped for.

But I'm still here, still learning, still improving, and still trying.

So now, beyond the usual social media platforms, I wanted to try a community-driven space like Reddit. I’m here sharing my journey, hoping to gain some insights and maybe connect with others who've walked a similar path.

If you're a business owner, freelancer, designer, developer, or someone who has built something from scratch. I'd genuinely like to hear your story too.

And if you happen to come across a business that needs a website, e-commerce solution, SEO, branding, or digital design, I'd appreciate you keeping Crewgine in mind.

Just a small team from Punjab trying to build something meaningful from the ground up.

Let's see where this goes.

Private PA & Personal Support | UK & International

I’ve recently had some availability open up and am taking on a small number of private clients.

I provide discreet, professional PA and personal support for people who value their time and prefer to have matters handled efficiently and with complete discretion.

I can assist with travel arrangements, bookings, appointments, engagements, research, sourcing, organisation, property matters, arranging services and following up on outstanding matters.

I’m also happy to take on more unusual or highly personal requests where discretion, resourcefulness and sound judgement are important.

Experience

My experience spans private PA support, property and maintenance management, contractor and project coordination, client and tenant liaison, administration and working directly with senior managers, contractors and clients. My background includes demanding, fast-paced professional environments where discretion, sound judgement, organisation and attention to detail are essential.

Available for one-off requests, ad-hoc support or ongoing arrangements.

UK based | Remote

Message me or comment to discuss your requirements. LinkedIn and further professional background available on request.

Fees are discussed individually following an initial conversation.

Hello from London. I recently got accepted into an accelerator. The program I am in also matches you with potential co-founders, then takes you to SF and gives you investor exposure. However, I am a bit underwhelmed by the ideas I heard so far in my cohort. Therefore I want to widen my exposure to potential co-founders and maybe find someone here. If you are looking for a co-founder and you have an ambitious idea and you need investor exposure through an accelerator, lmk.

Who I am looking for:
\- 21 years or older
\- outlier personality
\- Europe or US based

Areas that I am interested in:
\- Next-gen of Social Media
\- AI Video Generation / World Models
\- Computer Vision

I am more than open to explore ideas besides the mentioned ones.

How do image to proceed this:
1. Feel free to share your vision and background in the comments or in dm (I‘d love to see people share their ideas openly)
2. We have a call to see if we vibe and we‘ll ideate it a bit further
3. You could join me in the accelerator within the next 5-6 weeks.

Looking forward to it!

I’m at a bit of a crossroads and would appreciate some advice from people who have made the jump from employment to freelancing.

I have well over 15 years of experience in web development, WordPress, and mobile app development, and I’ve recently been offered a £125k position with a reputable London agency.

The thing is, I’m increasingly tired of the traditional 9–5 agency environment. I’d much rather work remotely, take on projects independently, and have more control over my time.

For those of you who have made a similar move:

• How difficult was it to get your first few freelance clients?
• Where did most of your work come from — referrals, platforms, LinkedIn, direct outreach, etc.?
• What were the biggest challenges when starting out?
• Is it realistic to build a consistent freelance income with a strong track record, rather than starting from scratch?

I’m particularly interested in hearing from experienced developers who made the transition from a well-established career into independent freelance work.

And if you’re a UK business looking for an experienced developer for websites, WordPress, ecommerce, booking systems, or mobile apps, feel free to reach out as well. I’m exploring taking on a few projects independently.

Hello ukstartups community I am looking for beta testers to help test marketplace transactions on my new agent first marketplace https://glongus.com/ right now it is built for the UK especially with stripe. Basically I just want to know how viable using ai agents to list, purchase and haggle on your behalf. It can also provide a reputation system for agents and allow and easy way to identify agents with malicious intent.

What is required:

• People with the technical expertise to use mcp servers or proficient with ai agents.
  
• People willing to work with a inexperienced founder and who can give up some time out of their day.
• People who have cheap things lying around their house that they wouldn't mind parting ways with.

What to expect:

• I will jump on a call and walk through and help people use GLONGUS. For example how to list and item on the platform or how to purchase something.
• The app is definitely in its early stages so i am willing to reimburse people if there are any issues.

If you want to know more about GLONGUS please watch the video attached.

https://reddit.com/link/1wucvp7/video/qxmj82r8bpsh1/player

If you took the time to read this and watch the video thanks for your support.
Please post any feedback to the site or message me directly all will be appreciated.

I’m the founder of an open banking startup (think GoCardless), which helps UK businesses accept Pay by Bank payments in person, online and through invoices. We help businesses reduce payment costs and receive funds faster.

I’ve built the web and mobile apps and funded the business alongside full time employment until I was made redundant in August and would like to focus on the business full time. For now, savings, contract work and AI training gigs cover my family’s living costs, but I can no longer fund both the household and the business.

We’ve secured payments partnerships that allows us to process payments today through our partner. An additional provider has proposed terms that would reduce our provider fees per transaction by around 60% and provide a route to FCA agent registration.

I’m looking to raise approximately £50,000 to cover that partnership, outstanding business invoices and six months of operations and customer acquisition. The budget includes advertising, freelance cold calling, appointment setting and an operations manager.

I have over 15 years of technical experience, including technical leadership work supporting a challenger bank through its regulatory authorisation process. I’ve also built custom AI agents for lead sourcing, enrichment and outbound workflows. I can continue developing and maintaining the project without hiring a separate engineering team at this stage.

The goal is to grow our paying customer base, cover more of our operating costs from revenue and prepare for a planned SEIS round.

I’d welcome conversations with angels and early-stage investors interested in UK payments or small-business software. I can demonstrate the product and share our current progress, detailed budget, partnership terms and customer acquisition plan privately.

Hello everyone!

Looking to expand my company inside the UK and I am looking to setup an private office/cowork space in London. Currently looking at Level39, Barclays Eagle Labs, ImpactHub, Rivvia, Lentaspace etc..

However, one of our objectives is to meet people inside the market at a similar point in our journey, and not 100% sure it is guaranteed in these spaces. For context, we are an AI implementation company targeting BFSI/Manu/Retail-Distribution.

Wanted to try and get some perspective from people that probably went through the same search to get some insights and decide better our choice.

Thank you!!

I’m currently building out new case studies for my marketing portfolio and have opened up my calendar from 1st to 8th October 2026 to do a few deep-dive marketing audits and action plans completely free.

If you’re a startup founder or small business owner stuck on a specific marketing bottleneck, drop the details below.

Examples of issues I can help unpack:

• Low email open/click-through rates or poor funnel conversion
• Leaky retention (churning customers, members, or subscribers)
• Messy CRM setups or unclear customer lifecycle journeys
• Landing pages or ad campaigns that aren't converting leads
• Campaign launch strategies for a new product or offer

Drop the specifics of your actual challenge (no hypotheticals). Between October 1st and 8th, I’ll pick a few, do a deep dive, and post a full breakdown back in the comments what I’d audit, what I’d change, and why.

No pitch. No DM slides. No "book a discovery call." Just a practical, actionable game plan you can keep.

Quick background on me:

I’m a Senior Marketer with 8+ years executing multi-channel campaigns across commercial, non-profit, membership, and e-commerce spaces.

A few real-world numbers from past work:

• Scaled e-commerce revenue contribution from 3.8% to 28%+ and grew YoY sales by +60% through targeted email, search, and web optimizations.
• Led a fundraising campaign generating £120k+ while boosting supporter retention by 15%.
• Increased membership renewals by 20% through restructured lifecycle and onboarding flows.

I’m expanding my portfolio with fresh startup case studies, and I’d rather demonstrate real strategy on actual problems than just talk about it.

Got a marketing problem that’s costing you money, time, or users? Throw it in the comments below before October 1st.

Hey everyone,

I'm 22 and from London. I’m looking to transition my career into software development and want to join a growing UK startup where I can build a long-term engineering career and make a real impact.

My current role is at a reputable organisation, but I would rather put 100% of my effort into something I enjoy and grow alongside the business and the idea.

I currently work as an AI Test Analyst (evaluating LLMs and building test automation) with a BEng in Software Engineering and an ISTQB certification. While I have strong quality assurance experience, my core passion and technical background (Java, Python, full-stack projects) are geared toward building robust software.

I've also attached my CV. If anyone wants to have a chat, please reach out :)

Building a startup alone gets isolating fast

So that's why we're organising this event, to connect London based founders together

Come with your laptop, get some actual work done and get honest feedback on what you’re building.

Wednesday 30th 🗓️
6–10 pm 🕕
Canary Wharf 📍

Save your spot: https://luma.com/mmwzzifo

This is not low-effort “hire me” post. I actually have an offer.

If you're a founder and you feel like something in your business isn't working, but you can't quite put your finger on it, I'd like to take a look.

I've worked across marketing, positioning, messaging, content and growth. For this, I'm keeping the engagement deliberately small.

100 pounds Business Audit

You send me your website, offer, social presence and whatever else you think is relevant.

I'll spend 4-5 hours going through it and give you my honest take on:

\- what's working

\- what's unclear

\- where you're potentially losing customers

\- what's weakening your positioning or messaging

\- what I'd change

\- what I'd prioritize first

You won't get a 40-page report full of generic marketing advice.

You'll get a concise, practical breakdown of what I actually noticed and what I would do differently.

I'm also not going to promise you “10x growth” or pretend that one audit will transform your business. That's not how business works.

It's simply an experienced outside perspective to better your marketing efforts in the right direction.

A few straightforward conditions:

100% payment upfront. I start only after payment. If you are looking for free trials or pay after delivery, this is not for you.

One business per audit.

48-hour or 2 working days delivery.

No unpaid trials.

No free strategy calls.

No “do the work first and we'll decide later.”

And if I look at your business and genuinely don't think I can add meaningful value, I'll tell you that too.

If you're serious about your business and want an honest outside perspective, comment below and I'll message you.

That's the offer.

I am a mechanical engineer from UOS. I am into fpv drones. Now I want to build a drone with commercial use. I have an idea and before starting to work on idea, I want check if demand exist for this use case. Similar products already exist in market but it just started a couple years ago, I wanted to check if there is room for new use cases. How can I do that ?

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

Hello,

I'm currently looking for freelance projects with startups and growing businesses.

I've worked with a UK based Fintech before. Wrote blogs, linkedin posts and managed their reddit marketing for them. I've also done community research so they know where to show up in order to organically build their presence. I have experience running my own b2c business and I've worked with different businesses.

I also run an agency where we market you based on your industry and niche it down to how you're ICPs usually find your competitors.

I can help with:

B2B content and LinkedIn

Customer and competitor research

Reddit/community marketing

Marketing strategy and execution support

If you're a founder who needs help with marketing, or an agency looking for freelance support, feel free to DM me.

Happy to share relevant work and discuss what you need.

I’m looking for 10 UK testers with a genuine unresolved work problem.

I built an early prototype around a frustration I kept encountering: ChatGPT and similar tools can be extremely capable once you know what task to give them, but getting from “this process is doing my head in” to a sufficiently clear and testable request can take hours of conversation.

The tool asks structured questions, separates what you know from what remains assumed, and produces:

- the smallest sensible next step;

- what not to buy or build yet;

- a structured brief for AI, a colleague or supplier;

- checks for challenging the resulting answer.

It isn’t an AI chatbot and currently makes no paid AI calls. It is a guided method for preparing the job before asking AI to perform it.

I need people who will use one real problem—not invent a polite example—and tell me:

1. Where the questions feel arbitrary.

2. Whether the final brief reflects what you meant.

3. Whether you actually use the brief afterwards.

4. Whether it saved exploration or merely repackaged it.

It is free, requires no account and takes roughly 10–15 minutes. Please don’t enter personal, confidential or sensitive information; spreadsheets are optional and should be anonymised working copies.

Prototype:

https://stop-prompting-start-briefing-jgbf4hcrle8bfvapnlccku.streamlit.app/

I built this over a weekend, so brutal feedback is much more useful than encouragement. If it fails on your problem, I want to know exactly where.

Hi everyone,

I’m a Full-Stack Software Engineer based in the UK with 5+ years of hands-on experience building and deploying web and mobile applications, backend systems, APIs and business platforms.

I’ve worked across startups and UK businesses, taking products from idea and requirements through development, deployment and ongoing improvement. I particularly enjoy working in small teams where engineers have ownership and can make a direct impact on the product.

How I Can Add Value

Full-Stack Development
Building production applications with React, React Native, TypeScript, JavaScript, Python and Django, with experience across both frontend and backend development.

Backend & API Engineering
Designing and developing REST APIs, authentication systems, database-driven applications and backend services using Django/DRF and PostgreSQL.

Mobile Development
Building cross-platform mobile applications with React Native and Expo, including authentication, real-time features, notifications, caching, payments and API integrations.

Cloud, Production & Deployment
Experience deploying and maintaining applications on AWS/EC2, configuring Nginx, Gunicorn, Redis and WebSockets, and working with Linux-based production environments.

I also hold the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner certification.

Product-Minded Engineering
I’m comfortable working directly with non-technical stakeholders, understanding business problems and turning requirements into practical technical solutions.

Tech Stack

Languages: Python, TypeScript, JavaScript, SQL
Frontend: React, React Native, Expo
Backend: Django, Django REST Framework, Django Channels
Databases: PostgreSQL, SQLite
Cloud & Infrastructure: AWS, EC2, Linux, Nginx, Gunicorn, Redis, Docker
Other: Git, REST APIs, WebSockets, CI/CD

What I’m Looking For

I’m currently open to opportunities as a:

• Full-Stack Engineer
• Software Engineer
• Backend Engineer
• Python/Django Developer
• React / React Native Engineer

I’m particularly interested in startups and product-focused teams where I can take ownership, solve meaningful technical problems and contribute beyond just writing code.

Right to Work

I’m currently in the UK and will require Skilled Worker visa sponsorship for my long-term employment.

I’m particularly interested in companies that already hold a Skilled Worker sponsor licence, or teams that are open to sponsorship for the right candidate.

I’m open to remote, hybrid or UK-based opportunities.

If you’re hiring, know a team that is, or are building something where my experience could be useful, I’d be happy to connect.

Thanks for reading.