How We Are Working With Big Businesses
Secret Projects works with a number of businesses who generously provide us with their services and expertise. The support we receive from these businesses typically comes in the form of a partnership arrangement, on a pro-bono, long-term basis. They are keen to help us develop our business and achieve our goal of empowering women. Collectively they provide us with a wealth of expertise which is enabling us to flourish.
Below is a list of businesses we are currently working with and details of how they support with. If you or your business are interested in supporting Secret Projects in a similar way, please get in touch with us. Fritha, founder of the business, would be delighted to hear from you: fritha@secretprojects.org
Brunel IT are an IT support and Consultancy firm who support us on a pro-bono long-term basis. Brunel IT, who are particularly experienced in cloud-based technology have recently taken over the staging of our domains and consolidated our numerous computing software programmes. As a result, we are now able to work more efficiently and share digital assets much more easily between the UK, USA and India.
Crowdfunder is the UK’s no. 1 crowdfunding platform. We have run a number of successful campaigns with Crowdfunder totalling £50,000, including the Secret Sari Dress which raised over £11,000 in 2016. In 2018 we won Crowdfunder’s ‘What’s your idea?’ competition which was backed by Capital IFX, Go Daddy and the UK government initiative ‘Exporting is Great’. As well as winning a £1,000 donation to our Personalised Secret Pillow campaign, we receive ongoing business support to help us grow our business.
Hogan Lovells are an international law firm who offer their time and expertise on a pro-bono long-term basis. They are currently helping us to register trademarks for the Secret Pillow and Secret Sari Dress. They have also helped us to draft formal agreements between Secret Projects and business with whom we have a partnership or formal service agreement.
Press Loft are an website portal who provide a place for brands and journalists to come together and quickly share stories, product images and collaborate on projects. They give us a 75% discount on their premium monthly service and support us daily to improve our PR offering and make more sales.
Quancious are a progressive fashion brand and digital printing company based in Bengalaru, India. They specialise in eco-friendly fabrics and they are printed using environmentally-friendly techniques which do not pollute India's fresh water resources. They have blended customisation and sustainability and we are excited to have teamed up with them to launch our personalised Secret Pillows in March 2018. Our long-term goal is for Quancious to print our own designs for Secret Pillows and to give our customers access to Quancious's vast library of patterns which include Disney characters!
The Royal Society of Arts (RSA) is a charity which encourages the release of human potential to address the challenges that society faces. We received 2 grants totalling £7,000 to fund our start-up activities from the RSA and our first Kickstarter campaign was a result of their support. The RSA runs on a membership basis.
Service Tick are experts in creating and distributing customer surveys to gather real-time feedback and analysis on products and services. They are helping us on a pro-bono long-term basis to better understand our customers likes and dislikes, obtain feedback about our products and find out how our customers would like to engage with us beyond a traditional buying and selling relationship.
Solo Expenses provide online book keeping software aimed at small to medium-sized businesses, and customer support. Receipt Bank generously donate £5 per month to Secret Projects.
Virgin Startup provide financial support and advice to small businesses who are starting out. In 2014 Secret Projects was awarded a loan of £25,000 from Virgin Startup and have given us free business support in the form of talks and seminars on an ongoing basis. Without the Virgin Startup loan, Secret Projects would not have been able to make the initial investment in the project which included training, materials and creating an infrastructure in India.
Webleaf is an e-commerce consultancy that works on varied projects around the world partnering with investors, established e-tailers and startups. They are helping us to develop a successful e-commerce strategy to drive sales increase our social media presence. Webleaf offer their time and services on a pro-bono, long-term basis.