UEA Spin-Out Beep Secures Investment through Anglia Capital Group

By Brigette Currin 3 minute read

Former University of East Anglia student, Josh Davies and his team approached the Anglia Capital Group angels with their innovative digital campus card business. They were successful in securing £60,000 investment through Anglia Capital Group and their partners at New Anglia Capital (backed by New Anglia LEP) as part of a £250,000 raise.

Beep has created a unique digital campus card, allowing university students to gain door and facilities access around campus via a smartphone. Josh received University of East Anglia (UEA) Enterprise Fund funding of £50,000 to create the MVP of the platform with initial trials and pilot taking place at the UEA campus in Norfolk. Working with the university’s security partner, a fully functioning version of the Beep platform was developed for UEA, with plans to use the platform to launch the university’s new science and engineering buildings.

“Anglia Capital Group are committed to providing opportunities to innovative start-ups in our region. It’s great to see Norwich-based Beep succeed in their funding round and we’re excited to see what is next for this young company.” Hannah Smith, Managing Director, Anglia Capital Group.

The launch of the Beep platform at the University of East Anglia makes UEA the very first university in the UK to trial a fully functioning digital campus card – paving the road for other universities to follow.

“We’re very excited to be working with Beep and we look forward to seeing the impact a digital platform will have on the student experience at the university” Miguel Rios, Head of UEA Estates.

Beep can dramatically reduce university costs for campus cards by removing the need for students to have a physical card. Instead, using the same technology that Apple used to develop their ‘ApplePay’, students will now be able to download their campus card directly to their smartphone. Current campus cards cost circa £150k annually per university and is a major headache in both administration and maintenance. Using the Beep digital card can reduce costs by up to 50%.

“The feeling is quite surreal. We always believed that we would reach our goal and we have spent a lot of time aiming for this – but now that the moment is here, it feels very special. It was certainly a team effort, and I want to thank everyone that was involved in getting Beep to this stage. From the team we have at Beep, to those associated with Student Enterprise at UEA, this couldn’t have been done without them.” Josh Davies, CEO & Founder of Beep

By partnering with some of the world’s largest security technology companies Beep is compatible with 85% of UK Universities, and that number is only growing. Beep even has plans to start working with clients beyond the UK, with the first pilots for international clients being planned.

Future development plans include the introduction of additional features to help students make the most out of their university experience, such as the ability to purchase tickets for events, buy food and drink around campus, and even get access to exclusive student discounts all through the Beep platform. Additionally, the company has plans to expand its horizons beyond universities, with an ambition to provide similar security solutions to the likes of banks, airports, hotels and more by 2024.

Investment in early-stage companies involves risks such as illiquidity, lack of dividends, loss of investment and dilution.  Investment in start-up companies are higher risk and should be considered as part of a diversified portfolio. For Professional investors only.