Two 21-year-old founders have raised $3m to build Manchester-based AI marketing startup Revnu after returning from Silicon Valley’s Y Combinator accelerator.
Childhood friends George Jefferson and Art Freebrey chose Manchester as their base despite considering San Francisco, where much of their current customer base is located.
The funding round was led by NPIF II – PXN Equity Finance, managed by PXN Ventures as part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II. Revnu also received backing from Y Combinator.
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The investment will fund the expansion of its Manchester team, growth in the UK and US, and entry into further international markets.
Revnu’s platform uses AI agents to help early-stage businesses find customers, run marketing campaigns and build sales pipelines without immediately investing in large in-house teams.
Businesses can deploy agents across channels including LinkedIn, TikTok and Instagram to run campaigns, test advertising, generate leads and book meetings. Users can set budgets, with the platform learning a company’s tone and objectives over time and providing performance updates.
Revnu is also developing generative engine optimisation (GEO) capabilities to help businesses appear in responses generated by AI services such as Google AI and ChatGPT.
Jefferson and Freebrey met at secondary school and launched several businesses together while still in education. Their early ventures included software to automate buying and selling rare vintage clothes and trainers, followed by an accounting platform for Vinted sellers.
While at university, their businesses were generating around $15,000 a month. After recognising a wider application for the AI systems they had built to automate their own work, they were encouraged by Monzo co-founder Jonas Templestein to pursue the opportunity and apply to Y Combinator.
The pair dropped out of university and temporarily moved to Silicon Valley for the accelerator before returning to Manchester.
George Jefferson, CEO of Revnu, said: “AI has made it easier than ever to start a business, but the real challenge arises when it comes to growing them. There’s a general understanding about what’s needed: more outbound, trying LinkedIn ads and testing more. But many simply don’t have the time to run this activity themselves, nor have the budget to hire a dedicated growth team.
“Revnu removes this stumbling block. It tests every channel, finds what works for that business, scales what wins and gets rid of what doesn’t – all while keeping the founder in the loop.
“And we’re confident that Manchester is the right place to build this. Y Combinator opened our eyes to the Silicon Valley ecosystem in a very positive way, but San Francisco wasn’t the place to build for us. The talent coming out of UK universities right now is amazing. In fact, our first hire is already moving up from London to Manchester to join us.”
Stefano Smith, senior investment associate at PXN Ventures, said: “We knew George and Art prior to Y Combinator from their participation in hackathons and contribution to student accelerators. The pair immediately stood out as ambitious, driven young founders with strong technical expertise. When combined with our high conviction thesis on the new world of growth marketing, backing Revnu was an easy decision. NPIF II was created to invest in founders exactly like George and Art, and we’re proud to support them in their growth journey.”
Sue Barnard, senior investment manager at British Business Bank, said: “It’s great to see the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II supporting ambitious technology businesses like Revnu as it develops innovative AI-powered solutions and pursues its international growth plans. Manchester has a thriving technology and digital sector, a key sector within the Government’s Industrial Strategy. Through NPIF II, we’re helping inspiring businesses across the North access the finance they need to scale, build and grow in the region.”
The £660m Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II covers the whole of the North of England, providing loans from £25,000 to £2m and equity investment of up to £5m to support smaller
