Social change start-up Good-Loop seeks £500K to target US ad market

A technology start-up that uses money from advertising to fund 'sustainable social change' and is backed by Skyscanner co-founder Gareth Williams is looking to raise a six-figure sum and move into the US.

Amy Williams founded ethical video advertising platform Good-Loop.

Good-Loop, which launched in October 2016 and has offices in Edinburgh and London, rewards viewers of online video ads with half of the revenue to donate to a charity of their choice.

It has received funding of £100,000 to date and is looking to raise £500,000 to scale up, as it also seeks to raise £6 million for good causes by 2020.

Chief executive and co-founder Amy Williams said she was inspired to establish the venture after working for an ad agency in London.

She teamed up with Daniel Winterstein, co-founder and chief technology officer of social media-focused software firm SoDash, who holds the same positions in Good-Loop.

Good-Loop aims to combine advertising with a “bigger social mission” and its first round of investment, totalling £50,000, arrived in December 2016 via accelerator Collider.

Amy Williams also explains the Skyscanner executive’s involvement, saying he was an angel investor in the start-up’s second fundraising round.

The latest fundraising is planned for the early part of this year, with angel syndicates being targeted. She said the new capital could help grow the six-strong team to ten by the end of 2018.

She said Edinburgh is “a smart place to grow our base”, but that its next focus will be the US. “It’s going to be a platform of brands and causes to come together and for consumers to unlock the value of advertising and use it to fund social change.”