Andy Murray serves British entrepreneurs with trio of new investments

Tennis champion, world number two Andy Murray has made three further investments in British startups on the London-headquartered equity crowdfunding platform, Seedrs.

Murray made undisclosed investments into three very different businesses he wanted to back. This follows the multiple investments the sports star made in February on Seedrs, with plans to continue backing British startups as part of his strategic relationship with Seedrs.

Murray’s latest investments include: Beeline, a smart navigation device and mobile app for bicycles, allowing cyclists to navigate by informing them of the direction and distance to their destination.

Dog Tracker Nano, a live tracking device with geofencing and alerts to keep your dog safe with inbuilt tech to monitor activity, fitness and location. Lastly, blow LTD; London’s ‘beauty on demand’ service, delivering expert blow dries, makeup and nails to your door.

Beeline raised over £500k in under a week from over 350 investors on Seedrs, quickly exceeding its fundraising target of £400k. This campaign follows a rewards-based campaign on Kickstarter, with the London-based company also receiving investment from well-known fund, Seedcamp. The smart device connects wirelessly the rider’s phone, enabling the compass to direct the rider to their destination.

Dog Tracker Nano has returned to Seedrs for its second round of funding and is currently over 115% of its funding target with investment from 110 investors. The health, fitness and GPS tech for pets is a small, lightweight and waterproof dog tracking system that can be worn by all breeds of dogs to monitor activity and fitness. The ‘live tracker’ provides a constant location of your pet via your mobile, wherever you are in the UK or abroad.

Murray’s final investment is in blow LTD. Blow LTD has raised over £1.1m with over 210 investors including Unilever Ventures and the founder of ASOS. Launched by co-founders Dharmash Mistry, venture capitalist and entrepreneur and Fiona McIntosh, former Editor-in-Chief of Grazia and Elle in November 2013, blow LTD has been dubbed the “Uber for beauty”.

The service provides blow-dries, makeup and nails to customers’ doors or in one of blow LTD’s flagship beauty bars in Covent Garden and Canary Wharf.

Murray said: “Giving recognition and support to British entrepreneurs is really important to me, especially those who are the driving force behind growth-focused businesses.

“Every one of these entrepreneurs is passionate and dedicated to succeeding and I’m excited to have invested in their future growth.”

Jeff Lynn, CEO and co-founder of Seedrs, added: “It’s great to see Andy supporting entrepreneurs so actively on Seedrs by investing in another three businesses today.

“Andy is a great example of an investor who understands early stage investment and the importance of building a diverse investment portfolio aligned with a wider investment strategy. Seedrs was named the most active investor in private companies in the UK last month, and our continued growth and leading position in the market are testament to our reputation and the support from people like Andy.”

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