In the dynamic landscape of tech startups, the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol) continues to help new startups grow and thrive. UWE’s Launch Space incubator has consistently developed groundbreaking ideas to transform opportunities for the startups it supports. Among its recent success stories is Nesti, a startup that exemplifies the cutting-edge talent and innovative spirit cultivated at UWE Bristol.
Driving the AI-Powered Marketing Revolution
Nesti, a startup founded by UWE Bristol Business School alumni Morgan Edmondson and Will Fletcher and Exeter University graduate Luke Kellet, has recently launched a groundbreaking AI video platform for outbound marketers. This Software as a Service (SaaS) product is set to transform how B2B organisations execute outbound marketing campaigns.
Morgan Edmondson, Nesti co-founder:
“We founded Nesti to address the decreasing returns marketers saw from traditional outbound channels. Our research showed that video content significantly boosts engagement. However, the creation of personalised videos was too time-consuming. Nesti’s automated, scalable video prospecting solution is designed to industrialise video marketing, enabling sales teams to achieve transformational growth…”
The startup’s innovative approach, and ability to secure early customers, have not gone unnoticed. Nesti recently secured a £260,000 seed investment round, led by SFC Capital and supported by several angel investors, including experts from the outbound marketing industry. This funding milestone validates the potential of Nesti’s technology and sets the stage for future growth.
Investor at SFC Capital:
“The team at Nesti are building one of the most exciting B2B platforms we have seen recently. Nesti is well designed, extremely easy to use and is already proving its effectiveness amongst sales teams. There is an abundance of potential to not only own the generative AI video prospecting space but also expand into horizontal markets. We are excited to be working with the team as they expand and grow.”
The Power of Incubation
Nesti’s success is a testament to the impact of UWE Bristol’s Launch Space incubator. Over the past seven years, Launch Space has supported over 220 companies, helping them raise an impressive £125 million in funding.
Mark Corderoy, Entrepreneur in Resident, UWE Bristol:
“Executing a successful startup is not easy. We actively look for new ways to enable founders to realise their ambitions. Technology is changing what can be delivered by early-stage, small startup teams, and we want to ensure these tools are accessible to all founders.”
Embracing Low-Code Innovation
What sets Nesti apart is their ability to develop a sophisticated SaaS product despite none of the founders having a technical background. With help from Launch Space, the team leveraged low-code technology to build an advanced AI application that generates personalized video avatars for highly targeted marketing campaigns.
Revolutionising Outbound Marketing
Nesti’s platform uses cutting-edge video AI tools to create an avatar of a presenter from a brief video recording. This avatar can then be used with marketing scripts and ‘mail merge‘ techniques to produce unique videos for each recipient in an outbound campaign. The results speak for themselves: Nesti’s approach has doubled response rates compared to traditional outbound marketing techniques.
From Undergraduates to Entrepreneurs
The Nesti team’s journey with Launch Space began while they were still undergraduates at UWE’s Bristol Business School. The incubator played a crucial role in helping them evaluate early product ideas and develop their go-to-market strategy.
With its recent funding success, Nesti is now focused on expanding its customer base and demonstrating the value of its innovative platform. As they continue to grow, they are real examples of how university incubators can help transform ambitious students into successful entrepreneurs.
Nesti’s story exemplifies what can be achieved by ambitious founders when their entrepreneurial spirit and hard work is supported by innovative incubation services.