A young Melksham entrepreneur has launched a £50,000 online campaign to gain investment in a soft drinks business.
Will Hammersley from Melksham and his friend Chris Hannaway, have set up a drinks business called Turtl that is described as an ‘uber squash’ as it is 25 times more concentrated than normal squash with each tiny 48ml bottle making six litres of drink.
However, they need £50,000 investment to get the brand up and running. The investment would be for 14% of the business in a Dragon’s Den-type deal. The product is being advertised on a website popular with entrepreneurs and investors called Crowdcube which allows products to be sold and offered for a percentage of equity.
Currently the Turtl uber squash has almost £6,000 funding, with one investor alone pledging £5,000.
The product itself comes in three different varieties with all of them being zero calorie beverages. The varieties include a fruit flavoured drink, an energy drink and a vitamin-based drink. Just one squeeze into a water filled glass or sports bottle instantly makes a beverage, at a fraction of the cost of one bought at a shop.
Will said, “Chris and I discovered uber squash while we were road-tripping through the USA and it was perfect for keeping us going in the hot Death Valley weather, through the long nights and making our water way more interesting. We thought it was amazing how it didn’t exist in the UK, considering how much we love regular squash and products that make our lives easier. From that moment, we knew we had to bring this over here.
“We have had some success before in our own business as whilst at university we created a frozen yoghurt company called Arctic Farm that ended up in Sainsbury’s following a deal with the supermarket.”
The company has been launched on the online equity crowdfunding website Crowdcube.com in order to raise money from the general public to bring the product to market. The pitch is available at http://www.crowdcube.com/investment/turtl-ubersquash-13933.
