Giving the ZOE Community a Chance to Become Owners

The Challenge

ZOE earned widespread trust during the pandemic through its COVID app and science-backed public health work. But that trust led to a common misconception: many people thought ZOE was a nonprofit.

As we prepared to launch commercial products, we faced a real risk. If we didn’t address the shift directly, we could lose the very trust we had built. We needed to reframe the narrative. Our goal was to make it clear that ZOE is a mission-driven company, not a charity, and to invite our community to be part of what came next.

The Approach

We partnered with Crowdcube to launch “Own ZOE,” a crowdfund campaign that invited our community to become part-owners of the company. This wasn’t about raising the most money. It was about offering meaningful participation to as many people as possible.

To make that happen, we lowered the barrier to entry. People could invest with as little as £10. Many had never invested before, so we focused on education and transparency. We shared the story through social posts, emails, and a YouTube livestream with our founders and scientists.

Our message was simple: if you believe in ZOE, you can help build it.

The Outcome

The response far exceeded expectations. More than 13K people became owners of ZOE, contributing over £7.4 million and raising more than seven times our original goal.

We broke multiple records, including:

  • 4th largest crowdfund in Europe by number of investors

  • Most female investors in a single campaign

  • Most investors over the age of 65

Most importantly, we turned passive supporters into active participants. The campaign gave our community a real stake in ZOE’s future and strengthened the trust we had worked so hard to earn.

Learnings

Our community didn’t need flashy incentives. They just needed an open door. By keeping ownership accessible and communicating with clarity and respect, we gave people a way to feel even more connected to ZOE. And they showed up in force.

The biggest challenge wasn’t interest. It was infrastructure. Many members were new to investing, and Crowdcube’s platform wasn’t always intuitive, especially for older users. If I were to do it again, I’d push for better support and simpler onboarding to meet the needs of a more diverse group of first-time investors.