CitySocialising is a social network, operating in several cities across the UK. Gateway2Investment (G2i) helped them refine their investment proposition, resulting in the raising of £260,000 for expanding the business.
CitySocialising - Social network expands across UK
CitySocialising is a social network that enables outgoing professionals to connect offline with new local friends through shared interests in cities around the UK. The network was launched in London in January 2007 and was subsequently rolled out to regional cities around the UK including London, Bristol, Leeds and Edinburgh. The business has achieved annualised revenues of £300,000 and is already profitable.
Having been through the G2i programme, CitySocialising showcased their newly refined investment proposition at a number of events in the UK and Europe. This strategy paid off as two of the key investors in the eventual syndicate met the company at a pitching event in Nice, France, having visited themselves from their native Finland. CitySocialising raised £260,000 in March 2009 from a syndicate of investors in order to fund growth into new cities, complete the development of a new web platform and initiate marketing. The new site includes live city event listings, bespoke event creation tools, much improved social networking functionality and a site redesign and has been launched in further cities including Sheffield, Liverpool, Cardiff and Newcastle.
"The G2i programme was excellent. It was an opportunity to get a snapshot of every step of the investment process in bite-size chunks. It gave me business know-how ranging from finance to marketing and, most beneficially, the opportunity to network with other people who were also trying to raise funding. Having that support from people in the same boat and being able to swap stories was great. We stay in touch and they still provide a great sounding board" said Sanchita Saha, CEO of CitySocialising.
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