OB Gerry Lianos (School, 2014) has been nominated for the Forbes' 30 Under 30 List - Social Impact Category. Every year, the list recognises 600 (all under the age of 30) successful young innovators and entrepreneurs with 30 individuals being selected from 20 different categories. 

Forbes says: “The 30 Under 30 offers an annual opportunity to embrace the optimism, inventiveness and boldness of youth.” They also hope to find those “who are challenging the conventional wisdom and rewriting the rules for the next generation of entrepreneurs, entertainers, educators and more.”

Raffolux is an award-winning digital prize draw platform that gives people the chance to win a variety of amazing prizes - ranging from luxury cars to dream holidays, the latest technology, cash sums and more - with tickets starting at just 10p. With every purchase made, Raffolux customers have the chance to support a charity of their choice on the platform. To enable this, long-term partnerships have been established with a number of the UK's most well-loved charities that span a number of different sectors, ensuring that customers can support a cause close to their heart. Gerry co-founded Raffolux as a way to disrupt the traditional lottery model by integrating the donation element. Since launching in 2019, Raffolux has donated over £700,000 to more than 200 charities around the UK, and is forecast to raise upwards of £20,000,000 for good causes by 2028. The company is now home to a loyal and engaged user base of hundreds of thousands of members, and generates 20,000 new winning experiences every single week. 

In addition to its core offering on Raffolux, the company also operates a white-label SaaS product that allows charities and sports organisations around the UK to run prize draws of their own and fundraise more effectively. The product has been used by a host of leading charities and raised considerable amounts for a range of charitable causes. This includes a Christmas partnership with Charity Escapes and Vertu Motors, where customers had the chance to win a brand new car; with the project raising over £175,000 for over 100 charities across the country. Other projects have included partners such as BBC Children in Need, Air Ambulance UK, Rotary UK&I and more. 

In terms of fundraising, the company has raised over £4,200,000 in funding to date, including an industry-first £1.5m "airtime-for-equity" deal with UKTV Ventures (a BBC Studios company), and direct investment from the British Business Bank. 

Awards

The company have won and been nominated for a number of awards, including the following in 2024:

- Innovation Entrepreneur of the Year at the Great British Entrepreneur Awards 

- Business of the Year at the BASA Awards

- Flutter's Gaming Innovators 

- SME Business of the Year at the Lloyds Bank British Business Excellence Awards

- Young Entrepreneur at the Growing Business Awards

- Most Successful Scaleup and Founder of the Year at the Hustle Awards 2024

- Small Business of the Year at the British Business Awards

- Business Innovation Award, Business of the Year and Young Business Person of the Year at the SME National Business Awards

Charity partners

The full list of Raffolux's long-term charity partners are below:

- ActionAid UK

- Air Ambulances UK

- Alzheimer's Society

- Blue Cross

- Bradley Lowery Foundation

- Great Ormond Street Hospital

- Hospice UK

- National Autistic Society

- Ocean Generation

- Oxfam

- Prostate Cancer UK

- Sightsavers

- Walking With The Wounded

- Women's Aid

- Worldwide Cancer Research

- WWF

- Seven Clean Seas

To read more about the nomination, click HERE