Wriggle
2 known investors
Wriggle is a UK app-based marketplace offering last-minute discounted deals at independent local food and drink venues.
Also known as Wriggle
Investors · 2
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Wriggle operates a real-time marketplace for local eat-out food and drink in the UK. Independent restaurants, bars and cafes list discounted offers for tables or products they expect to go unsold — whether because of cancellations, surplus ingredients or quiet trading periods — and Wriggle users browse and buy those offers through a mobile app. Venues control the size of the discount, the times at which offers are live and how frequently they participate.
The service began in Bristol with an email-based daily offers phase before the mobile app launched on 7 May 2014. Customers pay in advance through the app, so venues are covered against no-shows. The proposition is aimed at spontaneous, same-day decisions to eat or drink out rather than advance booking, and at helping users discover independent venues rather than chain-restaurant deals. Founder Rob Hall also described plans to extend the model beyond food and drink to other categories of unsold capacity such as theatre tickets, bowling, hot-air balloon rides and supper clubs.
Founding story
Wriggle was founded in 2014 by Rob Hall, a former lawyer with no prior startup experience, who left the legal profession after conceiving the idea. He chose Bristol as the launch city because of its concentration of independent restaurants and bars and its receptiveness to new ventures, and received support from WebStart Bristol and SETsquared, working from the Engine Shed technology hub alongside a full-time designer and two Bristol University interns.
Business model
Wriggle intermediates between local food and drink venues and consumers, taking a commission on transactions processed through its app. Customers pay for the offer in the app, and the offer and payment are passed to the venue less Wriggle's commission.
Commission on app transactions; at the time of the 2014 profile Wriggle retained a 9.5% commission fee on each purchase, with the balance passed to the venue.
Traction
The app had recorded over 3,000 downloads in Bristol within months of its May 2014 launch, and download figures were reported in the thousands later that year. Successive Seedrs crowdfunding campaigns were oversubscribed, with the 2019 round raising nearly £750,000 against a £600,000 target.
Latest developments
In May 2019 Wriggle launched a Seedrs campaign seeking £600,000 at a £5,140,320 pre-money valuation for 10.45% equity; it reached the target that month and closed in July 2019 having secured nearly £750,000.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history
Market position
Positioned as a real-time marketplace for local, independent eat-out food and drink in the UK, differentiated from chain-restaurant discount schemes; described in coverage as an award-winning UK startup.
Focus on independent venues rather than chains, offers driven reactively by venues' own spare capacity, same-day spontaneity rather than advance booking, and prepayment that removes no-show risk for businesses.
Technology
A consumer mobile app that surfaces real-time, time-limited discounted offers from nearby venues, with in-app prepayment and push reminders sent to users at set points during the day; venues use a self-serve discounting tool to set offer prices, availability windows and frequency.
Go-to-market
City-by-city rollout starting in Bristol, recruiting independent venues locally and acquiring consumers through the app and daily deal notifications, with expansion planned to Bath and subsequently a scalable UK-wide launch. Financing and marketing have leaned on repeated equity crowdfunding campaigns on Seedrs.
Two sides: independent local food and drink venues (restaurants, bars, cafes) seeking to fill empty seats and sell surplus capacity, and consumers looking for spontaneous, same-day discounted eating and drinking out.
Geography
United Kingdom, launched and headquartered in Bristol, with expansion planned to Bath and a wider UK rollout.
History
Founded in 2014, Wriggle started with an email service sending same-day offers to subscribers — the first with Bristol venue Yume Kitchen — before launching its mobile app on 7 May 2014. It raised money on the equity crowdfunding platform Seedrs in an initial campaign in 2014, ran a second Seedrs campaign in January 2016 seeking £350,000 to build out its technology and prepare for a scalable UK-wide launch, and returned to Seedrs in May 2019 seeking £600,000. The 2019 campaign hit its target in May 2019 and closed in July 2019 with nearly £750,000 raised. Wriggle was also named among the partner companies in Seedrs' 2017 relaunch of its Alumni Club portal for UK early-stage businesses.
Compiled by commissioned research from 5 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Timeline · 7
launches, deals, and filingsWriggle completed its equity crowdfunding round on Seedrs with nearly £750,000 secured against a £600,000 target.
Wriggle secured its initial £600,000 funding target on Seedrs.
Wriggle opened an equity crowdfunding campaign on Seedrs targeting £600,000, offering 10.45% equity at a £5,140,320 pre-money valuation.
Wriggle was among the companies associated with Seedrs' relaunch of its Alumni Club portal for UK early-stage businesses.
Wriggle launched its second equity crowdfunding campaign on Seedrs seeking £350,000 to develop its technology and prepare for a scalable UK-wide launch.
Founder Rob Hall was seeking investment through the equity crowdfunding platform Seedrs, offering investors shares in the company.
After an initial email-based phase sending same-day offers to subscribers, Wriggle launched its mobile app on 7 May 2014.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
In the news
▸Research sources · 5
primary sources listed
- Wriggle - All News And Posts By Crowdfund Insidercrowdfundinsider.com · web
5 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Wriggle do?
- Wriggle is a UK app-based marketplace offering last-minute discounted deals at independent local food and drink venues.
- Who are Wriggle's investors?
- Wriggle's investors include Creative UK, Seedrs.