Scaling Begins.

From a trickle to hundreds a day.

The Reddit post was the catalyst, but the referral loop created the scale. New members joined, completed the qualifying journey and invited others, producing the first evidence that acquisition can compound through the product itself.

What flowed through the platform — and what it isn't.

Approximately £211k of verified consumer spend was captured in the eight days from 29 July to 5 August. This is verified purchase activity moving through the Vela platform. It is not Vela revenue. It is the raw material of the verified purchase dataset that underpins Vela Pulse and future brand monetisation.

The £9.6M annualised figure is a run-rate illustration based on eight days of activity, not a forecast. Verified consumer GMV is distinct from Vela revenue — see How the model monetises below.

The cumulative points curve is the compounding signal. What looked like a slow build across the prior year has stepped into a materially different shape in the last two weeks — driven by the same referral loop that produced the GMV surge.

Three scenarios for where the base goes from here Illustrative

The ~2,000-active-shopper cohort has only been observed for eight days. Rather than a single point estimate, we work to three scenarios internally:

Referral-led, not paid.

Every member so far has arrived through a referral loop — friends inviting friends — with zero paid ad spend. That makes the unit cost of acquisition materially lower than a paid channel.

The cost side, in one place.

Every new member carries up to a £10 committed referral reward. That reward is a committed liability, not cash already paid — cash follows only as members redeem. Below is the shape of the liability today, and how per-member cost breaks down at Year 1.

The figures above are planning economics based on current observed costs and assumptions. The first scaled cohort will allow Vela to replace these assumptions with observed D30 unit economics.

Brands are paying to reach and reward this audience.

Four revenue lines, in different stages of maturity.

Payment-network revenue (Mastercard, Visa) is Pipeline opportunity — potential upside, not yet contracted, and excluded from any central profitability planning.

The path from break-even to profitability.

Recurring revenue compounds across three lines — PLUS subscriptions, brand activations (Nestlé, Dr Will's), and payment-network deals (illustrative, not yet contracted). Cost grows more slowly than revenue as rewards become brand-funded and Nylas moves to a paid model.

Break-even and profitability dates should be treated as internal planning scenarios, not expected outcomes.

Three tests over the next quarter.

Same model, at scale, elsewhere.

Ibotta and Fetch Rewards demonstrate that receipt-led rewards can become large, durable consumer platforms. Ibotta is NYSE-listed (April 2024) with FY24 revenue around $367M. Fetch Rewards is at ~$500M ARR run-rate with 12.5M monthly active users. Vela's opportunity is to build a UK-focused model combining consumer rewards, cross-retailer purchase intelligence and brand-funded activation.

$367M revenue

NYSE-listed · IPO Apr 2024

~$500M ARR

12.5M MAU · >$2.5B valuation

Supporting the next stage of growth.

The recent consumer growth has reinforced that our immediate constraint is operational capacity rather than demand. We're therefore opening a £300k EIS-eligible bridge round to support this momentum, prepare for our planned Nestlé activation and continue investing in the platform as we scale.

Existing shareholders interested in participating are very welcome to get in touch. We'd be delighted to arrange a call.

Use of funds

Indicative allocation ranges. Precise splits depend on member growth pace across September.

The long-term opportunity, in one paragraph.