MTP 2022 Review

December 20, 2022

Analyst Team

Our Lead Investment Analyst, Tobias Howarth, reviews the North American market, the outlook for UK legalization, and the investment opportunities in the cannabis space.

Chairman Letter

2022 was another positive year for MTP, delivering varied investment and technical solutions across a number of sectors for our clients. Our Ventures Studio has matured throughout 2022. We support early-stage founders and business owners with investment readiness, guiding concept validation, business model creation and virtual data room curation ahead of their fundraising activity. Post-fundraise, MTP supports our partner businesses with the cost-effective delivery of world-class, scalable mobile and web applications.

Our expert team of engineers, project managers, business analysts and designers, capable of delivering best-in-class solutions for complex projects, is quickly expanding. Alongside our digital services team, we have introduced our On-Demand Teams (ODT) service. Through MTP’s entrenched talent networks across South Asia and the Middle-East and our experience managing offshore technical teams, ODT de-risks the tech talent recruitment process and allows our clients to build, house and manage bespoke offshore technical teams.

Whilst 2022 has been a strong vintage for MTP, macroeconomically it has been another challenging year. Hawkish central banks and investor speculation over inflation and interest rate hikes has caused global financial market turbulence. Tech stocks have shouldered the worst of the downturn, with the S&P 500 down 15% YTD. Further, depressed IPO valuations have forced private equity to scrutinise their buy-side valuations to protect ROIs, leaving earlier stage companies vulnerable to lower valuations. As of September 2022, eighty-one US companies suffered down rounds.

Despite poor public market performance, global early-stage investor sentiment has remained relatively high, with USD 87bn invested across seven thousand early-stage deals in Q3 2022. Whilst MTP have observed a general movement of investors to risk-off and a focus on opportunities that can rapidly achieve robust profitability, we maintain that early-stage investment is the only way to generate meaningful returns in the current inflationary environment. Our investor network has remained hungry for pre-reviewed opportunities. If you are interested in receiving a pipeline of early-stage digital tech investments, please reach out to our teams.

A compelling investment story is increasingly important in today’s early-stage environment. MTP’s Investment Readiness service ensures that our partner-businesses are properly equipped when engaging increasingly risk-averse target angel and VC investors and enhances their chances of successfully raising their capital targets.

In the wake of the recent FTX and BlockFi collapses, which revealed negligent levels of due diligence by some of the smartest investors in the game, VCs are under mounting pressure from LPs to justify each investment with thorough due diligence. The robustness of the company’s digital infrastructure is a commonly overlooked component of digital tech investment due diligence, but one that can critically hamper the chances of growth. MTP’s Diligence as a Service offering provides expert code analysis and scalability appraisal to inform our clients’ investment decisions. We are excited to continue our progress into and throughout 2023.

Portfolio News

Mocono

Mocono is a content gating/subscription paywall SaaS platform for media companies. It gives media companies high degrees of control over their online content monetisation strategies. Mocono launched to market in August 2022. Several publishers, including Mulberry Media, have now moved their titles onto the Mocono paywall platform. Mocono founder, Michael Northcott, is focussed on growing their client base before launching a Series A fundraise in 2023. MTP will support Mocono with their investment readiness, preparing a Series A virtual data room, and deliver the subsequent technical upgrades.

Mellow Pages

Mellow Pages is the UK's first digital cannabis clubhouse where members can engage with each other, explore a directory of UK-specific cultivars and celebrate the UK's thriving and distinct cannabis culture. They have recently launched their beta-testing phase, engaging over 150 industry experts and Mellow Pages stakeholders. The beta-testing participants are encouraged to rigorously test various functionalities, recommend potential additions and feedback on the platform-wide content. MTP are responsible for the beta-testing phase and will resolve any feedback relating to the digital infrastructure.

Mellow Pages will launch to general public in Q1 2023. The Mellow Pages team have engaged guerrilla marketing experts, Milk & Amber, the UK's first cannabis-focussed digital marketing agency, to lead Mellow Pages' route to market and digital marketing strategy. MellowPages will target users via organic and paid social media marketing, SEO optimisation and traditional email marketing.

Cheeky Cheerub

Cheeky Cherub is the UK's one-stop shop for luxury pre-loved children's clothing, prams and accessories. They support busy parents through the pre-loved selling process and bring sustainability to luxury children's apparel and goods by extending lifecycles and promoting preloved fashion. Cheeky Cherub are raising GBP 500k in Seed+ capital to fuel their digital strategy and next phase of growth.

Digital Services Debrief

ARIE Finance

Sector:

Finance

Project type:

Bespoke design and development of ancillary microservices.

Client bio:

ARIE Finance was established to meet the needs of underserved mid-market multi-national businesses with complex structures who are not typically supported by the traditional banking sector.

Project deliverables:

ARIE Finance was established to meet the needs of underserved mid-market multi-national businesses with complex structures who are not typically supported by the traditional banking sector.

Project outcome:

the microservices designed by MTP can be integrated into ARIE’s core banking application, as and when required, to automate the client onboarding and KYC/AML screening processes.

SoccerBx

Sector:

Sports

Project type:

Bespoke platform build.

Client bio:

SoccerBx.com was launched in September 2022 to serve the US’ rapidly expanding soccer fanbase. The site provides tips, insights, stats and research to help fans make informed bets.

Project deliverables:

Discovery and creation of technical architecture and development of the SoccerBx website and backend CMS.

Project outcome:

MTP delivered a bespoke platform, developed in accordance with SoccerBx’s individual specifications and on scalable infrastructure with future integrations in mind. MTP delivered the SoccerBx website reskin in November in preparation for the FIFA World Cup and will launch in the UK for the 2022/23 EPL season. SoccerBx plan to introduce new features ahead of the 2023 MLS season.

1851 Trust

Sector:

Education

Project type:

Website design and build.

Client bio:

1851 Trust, pioneered by HRH Princess of Wales and Sir Ben Ainslie, creates transformational experiences for young people at the intersection of sustainability and sport. The charity aims to increase science capital by providing educational tools that demonstrate how STEM subjects contribute to real-world challenges.

Project deliverables:

Design and build of an education platform for the Protect Our Future initiative, providing science-based learning resources that equip 11–16-year-olds with a knowledge and understanding of climate related issues.

Project outcome:

MTP stepped in to help our partners at 1851 Trust at the project’s 11th hour and were able to design, build and launch a new platform for the Protect Our Future initiative within the required, near-impossible three week timeline.

Travel Gay

Sector:

Travel

Project type:

Bespoke platform build.

Client bio:

The world’s most visited gay travel guide.

Project deliverables:

Travel Gay engaged MTP to reengineer the Travel Gay digital platforms. This included a complete rebuild of their existing website’s frontend and the custom development of a bespoke backend system that will support the growing volume of bookings and client data. of bookings and client data.

Project outcome:

Travel Gay’s new application is scheduled to launch in Q1 2023. It will transform the company’s ability to process bookings, handle transactions at scale, automate many of their existing processes and build engagement with their community. As a result of the partnership with MTP, Travel Gay are ready to relaunch and scale their business with an intuitive platform that will serve the demands of their growing client base.

Lincoin City FC

Sector:

Sport

Project type:

Technical Consultancy

Client bio:

Lincoln City Football Club compete in EFL League One.

Project deliverables:

Comprehensive audit of the club’s digital infrastructure and third party vendors.

Project outcome:

following MTP’s partnership with LCFC, the club’s existing platforms are now optimised to deliver maximum value. MTP also delivered short and long term roadmaps for LCFC’s digital platform development, helping the club obtain a detailed understanding of their digital infrastructure. Using MTP’s advice, the club will know when and, more importantly, why to invest in new technologies that meet the demands of the modern football fan and deliver a positive ROI.

Out Of Office

Sector:

Travel

Project type:

Bespoke website development.

Client bio:

Out Of Office are a full-service, luxury travel specialist offering bespoke travel experiences.

Project deliverables:

MTP were engaged to build and launch a bespoke website for Out Of Office.

Project outcome:

MTP worked closely with our design partners at The Pent House to bring their Out Of Office designs to life and ensure the site was optimised for digital marketing to maximise reach.