Welcome to Back or Bolt, a newsletter highlighting what is happening in the world of early-stage investing/crowdfunding. I’ll provide a curated list of what’s new in the crowdfunding space around the world and one deep dive into a company of interest, then it is up to you whether to BACK OR BOLT!
The DEEP DIVE - IMPOSSIBREW v Collider
Two functional alcohol-free beer brands. Both raising on Crowdcube right now. Both believe the future of drinking is sober but social. One has four years of revenue history and Ocado. The other has mushrooms, a Gold Medal, and 549% growth from a standing start. Which one, if either, deserves your money?
The Good ✅
95x revenue growth in four years - £37k to £3.5M+ is one of the more credible growth trajectories in recent UK crowdfunding
First functional AF beer on Ocado, currently ranked #4 among all dedicated low/no beer brands YTD - mainstream retail validation from a notoriously selective buyer
Proprietary Social Blend™ developed with Dr. Paul Chazot at Durham University - a named academic co-developer gives the formulation more credibility than most functional drink brands can claim
100,000+ customers, 47% returning, active subscribers more than doubled Jan 2025–Jan 2026, Ocado baskets running 47% above category average - the repeat purchase data is strong
75% of surveyed customers drink Impossibrew weekly+, 95% have told others - word of mouth metrics that most consumer brands would envy
EIS eligible - 30% immediate tax relief for UK investors meaningfully reduces the downside
Chairman Frazer Thompson brings serious drinks industry credentials
549% YoY revenue growth to £1M+ in rolling 12 months, with commercial operations only fully launching in October 2024 - the trajectory is steep
Gold Medal at the London Beer Competition with a score of 96 points - independent product validation that matters for on-trade buyers
Adaptogen-forward positioning using functional mushrooms - differentiated from Impossibrew's nootropic angle, targeting a distinct "calm" consumer occasion
Active subscribers doubled in the 6 months to May 2026 - a shorter window but a comparable growth rate, and DTC subscription is the right model for this category
Backed by DMG Ventures - meaningful institutional signal for a brand at this stage, and the first institutional name on the cap table. DMG Ventures as backer brings strategic resource beyond just capital.
Dishoom and Hoxton Hotels as on-trade accounts - premium venue placement that reinforces the brand positioning and gives trade credibility
The Bad 🚩
£15M pre-money valuation on £3.5M revenue is roughly 4x - not outrageous for a growing consumer brand, but demands continued strong growth to justify
The patent application on the Social Blend™ formula is pending, not granted - if it is not awarded, the formulation has no legal barrier to replication by a well-resourced competitor
Still loss-making, with a net loss of £156k in FY25 - losses are narrowing (from £457k in FY23) which is encouraging, but profitability is not yet in sight
Mark Wong holds 63.16% of the company - significant founder concentration, with the right to appoint 3 directors. Minority investor protections exist but governance is founder-dominated
Sole director company - the SKI flags this and notes the company intends to appoint an additional director "in the future" with no timeline given
The functional AF category is getting crowded fast - Collider is listed as a named competitor in Impossibrew's own risk factors
£8M longstop valuation on a convertible instrument - you don't know your exact entry price until the next qualifying round, which introduces pricing uncertainty
Single director company - Harry Cooke holds 76.78% of the company and makes all board decisions alone. The SKI explicitly flags this as a governance risk
£356k net loss in FY25 on £47k revenue - the loss-to-revenue ratio is extreme at this stage, though FY25 largely predates the full commercial launch
The Wayflyer facility (£350k, 14% fee rate, £240k outstanding) is expensive debt for a brand at this revenue level and creates repayment pressure alongside the fundraise
ASA structure means no shares are issued today - your money is committed but your equity position is contingent on a future qualifying round of at least £750k
The 549% growth figure requires careful reading - the company acknowledges it had "some baseline trading" before October 2024, making the comparison period partially pre-launch
EIS pending - the relief isn't confirmed yet, which adds uncertainty to the tax position
Back or Bolt?
⚡ Same category. Same platform. Same week. Very different investment cases.
Impossibrew is the more investable of the two on fundamentals. Four years of compounding revenue growth, 100,000 customers, Ocado distribution, a named academic co-developer, and a community that has already backed the brand twice. The £15M valuation asks you to believe the growth continues - and the repeat purchase and referral data suggests it probably does. The narrowing losses (£457k to £156k in two years) show operational discipline improving as scale increases. The patent risk is real but the brand moat is becoming increasingly tangible. At £8.80 per share with EIS relief reducing your effective cost to around £6.16, the risk-adjusted entry point is reasonable.
Collider is a more speculative bet, but not an unintelligent one. A Gold Medal product, premium on-trade placement, institutional backing from DMG Ventures, and subscriber growth that mirrors Impossibrew's early trajectory. If you believe the functional mushroom angle has more shelf longevity than nootropics (a reasonable view - consumer awareness of adaptogens is accelerating), and you're comfortable with the ASA structure and pending EIS, this is the kind of early entry that could look prescient in three years. But you are taking on more uncertainty: on the instrument, on the tax relief, on the governance, and on a brand that has been fully operational for less than 18 months.
The honest comparison: Impossibrew is where you invest if you want the most de-risked exposure to functional AF beer. Collider is where you invest if you think Impossibrew's valuation already reflects most of the upside and you'd rather pay less for more uncertainty.
My verdict: this week it’s a bolt for both - while Impossibrew has a more established brand, it is a hard market to be in. AF brewing is increasingly competitive, which would also make me hesitant about taking the risk on Collider.
(This is my personal view and not investment advice).
The Round Up 🌏
These are also on my radar this week. If you’d like me to analyse any of these in a future Deep Dive, be sure to let me know.
United Kingdom/Europe 🇬🇧 🇪🇺
TiPJAR - London, UK | FinTech / HRTech / SaaS | Cashless tip distribution platform automating compliance with UK tipping legislation | 5,000+ hospitality sites, 75,000+ workers, £130M+ tips processed annually, £11.3M raised to date (incl. £4.5M from YFM Equity Partners, March 2026) | Secondary sale | £24.5M implied valuation | £6.29 per share | Min. £12.58
Impossibrew - London, UK | Food & Beverage / Functional Drinks | Award-winning alcohol-free beer with proprietary nootropic Social Blend™ for relaxation | 95x revenue growth (£37k to £3.5M+ in 4 years), 100,000+ customers, first functional AF beer on Ocado, YTD #4 among dedicated low/no beer brands | £15M pre-money valuation | £8.80 per share | EIS eligible | £473k raised | Min. £100
Skin Analytics - London, UK | MedTech / AI Diagnostics | AI medical device (DERM) for autonomous NHS skin cancer triage | NICE recommended (May 2025), world's first EU MDR Class III CE-marked AI diagnostic, 165,000+ patients assessed, 15,500+ cancers detected, 25+ NHS sites, £15M Series B (April 2025, Intrepid Growth Partners) | Secondary sale | £55.5M implied valuation | £0.769 per share | Min. ~£10
Collider - London, UK | Food & Beverage / Functional Drinks | Non-alcoholic beer infused with functional mushrooms and botanicals for relaxation | £1M+ rolling 12-month revenue (549% YoY growth), active subscribers doubled in 6 months, Gold Medal London Beer Competition, backed by DMG Ventures | £8M longstop valuation | Convertible (ASA, 10% discount) | EIS pending | £27k raised | Min. £50
Equisera - Gloucestershire, UK | CleanTech / Energy | Patented supercritical water reforming technology (RiPR) converting biogenic waste into carbon-negative biomethane and hydrogen | £4M+ private investment, £1M+ Innovate UK grants, TRL6 prototype processing 600L/day, LOIs from agricultural and waste sectors, OFGEM project completed | £18.8M pre-money valuation | £6 per share | EIS eligible | £35k raised | Min. £10
Tharos - Walsall, UK | HealthTech / Animal Wellness | Patented malt enzyme supplement for equine and canine gut health | £729k revenue 2025, 2,500+ active customers, 70% repeat purchase rate, IVC Evidensia approved, 4 patent families (2 granted) | £9.1M pre-money valuation | £1.50 per share | EIS eligible
MIM Habits - Cabrils, Spain | FoodTech / B2B | Heat-stable postbiotic platform enabling functional food production at industrial scale for global CPG manufacturers | 110,000+ functional doses validated via DTC, active discussions with major food manufacturers, transitioning to B2B industrial rollout in Mexico | €7.5M pre-money valuation | €10.73 per share
Birmingham Brewing Company - Birmingham, UK | Food & Beverage / Craft Beer | Gluten-free, vegan and alcohol-free Brummie beers with 10 years trading, national distribution and socially conscious credentials | £935k revenue 2025, 11% YoY growth, 50% AF sales growth, 150+ stockists, Mitchells & Butlers and Avanti among customers, 20+ industry awards, supermarket listings in final-stage discussion | £2.2M pre-money valuation | £21.79 per share
Athena AI - Kingston Upon Thames, UK | B2B SaaS / AI | No-code platform for building, training and deploying AI agents across communication channels and CRMs | 160+ business clients, £14k MRR (Feb-Apr 2026), 8-month median customer LTV, 3 corporate pilots live, $350k Google Credits granted | £2.3M pre-money valuation | £22.72 per share | SEIS eligible
United States 🇺🇸
Surprisingly, there was nothing of note this week.
Australia/New Zealand 🇦🇺 🇳🇿
Snowtunnel Parks - Melbourne, Australia | Experience Economy / Deep Tech | Patented endless rotating indoor snow slope enabling small-format urban snow parks in 1/10th the space of traditional venues | First full-scale tunnel manufactured and ready to install, 9 European territories (incl. UK) under exclusivity agreements, Melbourne pilot site targeting late 2026 opening | A$19M pre-money valuation | A$500 minimum investment
Barry (Alter Ego Drinks) - Australia | Food & Beverage / RTD | Gen Z-targeted premium RTD brand co-founded by AFL icons Bailey Smith, Nick Daicos, Josh Daicos and Charlie Curnow | A$3.68M revenue FY25, profitable, 995 Liquorland stores nationally, Dan Murphy's and BWS ranging confirmed for August 2026, backed by former CUB CEO Peter Filipovic | A$30M pre-money valuation | A$250 minimum investment
The Scorecard:
Backs: 2 - Bolts: 8 (+2 this week)
The Fund:
That’s all for now, gotta bolt and get back to it! ⚡
DISCLAIMER - This newsletter is not financial advice, and should not be used as such. It is for information purposes only. Every investment has risks and you should do your own due diligence or discuss with a financial advisor before investing. Early-stage investing is higher risk and you may lose everything you put in. It is also highly illiquid, meaning your investment is not easily accessible if you need the funds at short notice.