Leed University graduate launches Sliide app with £325,000 investment

Corbyn Munnik co-founded Sliide with schoolfriend Frankie Kearney and developer Paul Johnston.

The app, which is available on Android phones, uses location and interests to deliver entertainment, ideas and news relevant to a user’s time and place.

Mr Munnik told The Yorkshire Post: “If you are an 18-25 female that’s interested in arts and culture and you’re walking around Bristol, we could distribute when you’re within 500 metres of a Banksy piece of street art.

“If you slide left to engage with that, you can go to a map and find out exactly where it is.”

Sliide’s revenue comes from sponsored content – for example, promoting a 20th Century Fox comedy movie to 18 to 25-year-olds with an interest in TV and film – and giving feedback to businesses on engagement.

Users also receive perks so they can “have a little bit of fun on a Friday”. “We know if we didn’t have users, we wouldn’t be able to get it, so we give 50 per cent of that revenue back,” Mr Munnik said. Sliide initially launched in Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool last month. In its first two weeks, the app had 7,000 downloads and more than 3,500 active users. It is now preparing for a national rollout this month.

The £325,000 seed investment came from a family office investor and a number of angel investors, including Betfair founder Ed Wray.

The business has been supported by the Sirius Programme, a global entrepreneur scheme run by UK Trade and Investment. It has been “absolutely phenomenal” in providing financial assistance to the team and enabling it to secure funding without giving away a large chunk of the business, Mr Munnik said.

“We’ve already employed five people,” he added. “That’s the best testament to UKTI thinking outside of the box.”