Pioneering start-up to launch ‘deep work-as-a-service’:
Serial tech entrepreneur Alicia Navarro raises £1.2m to support her latest venture Flown

• Flown is a new digital platform that provides knowledge workers – people who think for a living – with the physical and mental spaces in which they can work more productively and creatively
• Navarro, who previously founded the highly successful content monetisation platform Skimlinks, closed her £1.2 million pre-seed round in lockdown, with the new funding being used to build out the platform, onboard remote work-enabled properties and launch across the UK and Portugal
• Flown enables its members to search a curated list of inspiring properties that are fully equipped for distraction-free and ergonomic working
• Members can also tap into a set of tools and resources to support them with ‘deep work’ rituals around creativity and accountability

18 NOVEMBER 2020 – EXPERIENCED entrepreneur Alicia Navarro has announced the close of a £1.2 million pre-seed investment round to fund her latest venture, Flown.

Flown is a new online platform that aims to help knowledge workers achieve “deep work”. By matching them with inspiring properties setup for productive and ergonomic remote work, as well as providing an array of interactive tools and resources, Flown will provide the ideal mental and physical spaces required for knowledge workers to get away from their day-to-day work environments to do their most productive and creative work.

Flown is a new online platform that aims to help knowledge workers achieve “deep work”. By matching them with inspiring properties setup for productive and ergonomic remote work, as well as providing an array of interactive tools and resources, Flown will provide the ideal mental and physical spaces required for knowledge workers to get away from their day-to-day work environments to do their most productive and creative work.

Navarro  was  inspired  to  create  Flown  after  stepping  down  from  her  last  business  Skimlinks  in  2018,  following  11  years  at  the  helm.  Navarro  said:  “After  leaving  Skimlinks,  I  thought  I’d  have  tons  of  time  to  write,  think  and  ideate.  Unfortunately,  it  was  impossible  to  find  spaces  to  do  this:  co-working  spaces  were  too  distracting,  cafes  weren’t  ergonomic,  and  I  needed  a  break  from  working  from  home.  Plus,  not  being  part  of  a  team  any  longer  meant  I  was  often  lonely,  and  struggled  to  get  into  the  right  mental  space  for  thinking  creatively  or  productively.”

She then set off travelling around Europe to see if she could focus more easily away from the distractions of London, but became frustrated at how difficult it was to find remote working locations that were reliably wifi-enabled, ergonomic, creatively i nspiring and functional.

It quickly became her mission to help people find the fulfilment that comes from being able to focus and create significant thoughtworks. Aimed at freelancers, creatives, entrepreneurs, academics, remote teams, or anyone struggling to focus or get things done in their usual day-to-day setting, Flown is providing an innovative solution for the growing demand in productive remote workspaces. There are 1 billion knowledge workers globally , and it’s the fastest growing sector of our economy.

Navarro added: “COVID19 has only made the need for Flown even greater. People working from home sometimes need to escape to find inspiration and fewer distractions. Companies shifting to remote work still need places for their team to regularly collaborate or bond. And never before has our economy been more open-minded and experimental with new ways of working and supporting the needs of their employees.”

Available to both individuals and teams, Flown has two core offerings:

• Flown  Away:  a  highly  curated  list  of  homes, hotels   and  retreat  spaces that   are  fully  equipped  for  distraction-free,  ergonomic  and  productive  remote  working.  All  locations  have  undergone  rigorous  vetting  to  ensure  they  meet  Flown’s  high  standards,  and  members  can  choose  properties  based  on  their  ideal  workspace  –  from  a  cabin  in  the  woods  equipped  with  a  large  screen  monitor,  to  a  countryside  cottage  equipped  with  whiteboard  and  display  screen. 
• Flown  Here:  a  treasure  trove  of  resources and   interactive  tools  to help   workers  establish  more  effective  ‘deep  work’  rituals  –  from  virtual  accountability  groups  to  perception-shifting  creative  challenges. 

Raising a £1.2m round of pre-seed investment in November 2020, the business now boasts a number of well-respected, prolific angels and entrepreneurs as part of its investor cohort, including Taavet Hinrikus (Transferwise), Greg Marsh (OneFineStay), James Meekings
(Funding Circle) and Pete Cashmore (Mashable) – with a third of the fundraise also coming from female investors.

Navarro will be using the funding to continue building out the Flown platform ahead of its formal launch in the UK and Portugal, as well as onboarding new properties and bolstering Flown’s growing team. Working alongside Navarro, Flown’s founding team includes talent from Mr & Mrs Smith, Ometria, Quill, M cKinsey’s Generation, and Resi.

Navarro adds: “Raising such a large fund raise during a pandemic demonstrates how much our future-of-work vision resonated with investors.

Taavet Hinrikus from Transferwise says: “I recognised that Flown has the potential to be a real driving force for the way we work, and for how the hospitality industry can adapt to become more resilient and diversified by accommodating knowledge workers, not just holiday-makers.”
Flown is seeking inspiring remote work-enabled properties to add to its collection: owners or managers of potential p roperties can apply at www.flown.com

Ahead of its launch in early 2021, Flown is offering anyone who visits www.flown.com and joins the member waitlist o r nominates a property £200 of credit in their first year of being a member.

Follow FLOWN on I nstagram at @flownspace
ENDS

For more information contact [email protected] or call Victoria at Transatlantic: 07803
328 465