Synthetic Industry → ventures

Ventures

What we're exploring, what you can enquire about and what is available now.

Explore the offers

How many ventures are at each stage, counted from the list below. A dashed box either has none yet or sits outside the active path; paused ventures are outside the path.

Exploring

Exploring
Batch pre-orders and deposits for WooCommerce
What it is
WooCommerce shops that take pre-orders and deposits for goods that arrive from a supplier in batches, such as made-to-order or small-run products. A proposed WooCommerce plugin, not yet built, that would combine lead-time ship dates, a cap per batch, deposits, balance collection when a batch is ready and delay emails. Payment-gateway support remains to be tested.
Exploring
Confidential shredding prices for small offices
What it is
Small offices, starting in Sheffield, such as accountants, solicitors, clinics and agencies, with a few sacks or boxes of confidential paper to destroy, once or now and then. A plain, dated comparison of what shredding firms charge a small office for a one-off or occasional collection, so you can book a registered firm directly.
Exploring
Hire a robot for a small software job
What it is
People with a website, plugin or small app who need one small job done (a fix, a change, an update, getting something they built with AI tools deployed) and are happy for an AI agent to do it if that is quicker and cheaper. You describe the job. An AI agent picks it up, asks you what it needs to know, does the work and shows you the result. If you want something changed, you tell the agent and it changes it.
Exploring
Making Tax Digital setup for sole traders and landlords
What it is
Self-employed people and landlords in the UK who have to start Making Tax Digital for Income Tax: qualifying income over £50,000 from April 2026, over £30,000 from April 2027 and over £20,000 from April 2028. We would take your existing records (a spreadsheet, bank statements or rent records), get them into HMRC-compatible software set up for your quarterly updates, and show you exactly what to do each quarter.
Exploring
Moving home in Sheffield: one checked removal firm, one quote
What it is
People moving home in or around Sheffield, from a student room or a one- or two-bedroom flat to a family house, who want a removal firm without ringing round. You tell us once what you're moving, from where, to where and when. We would pass your move to one independent local removal firm we have checked, and that firm would quote you directly. If the quote doesn't suit you, you tell us and we try another firm.
Exploring
Office moves for small firms, with one accountable contact
What it is
Small businesses in and around Sheffield moving to a new office, without a facilities manager to run the move. We would scope the move with you, have it priced by an independent commercial removal firm we arrange, give you one fixed price before anything is booked, and be your single contact until you're in.
Exploring
Sell or hand over your small software product
What it is
People who own a small online product that still has users (a browser or code-editor extension, a WordPress plugin, a small SaaS tool, and sometimes a newsletter or content site) and want to sell it or stop looking after it. Two routes we might consider: a small purchase, or an upkeep arrangement while you keep ownership. Either would depend on diligence, terms, capacity and the business owner's approval; neither is available or promised yet.
Exploring
Sheet music for the song you want, arranged for the instruments you have
What it is
Hobby players, community groups and school music teachers who want a particular song arranged for an unusual instrument or group, at their playing level. Tell us the song, instruments and level you need. We would consider making a score and separate parts only if the rights holder and a suitable store permit that song and our AI-assisted process.
Exploring
Skip hire in Sheffield, priced and explained
What it is
Households and small builders in Sheffield who need a skip for a clear-out or a small job and want to know what it should cost and how to book one. A clear, dated comparison of what Sheffield skip firms charge for each skip size, with the permit rules explained, so you can book direct with a registered local operator.
Exploring
Software-operations tasks for training and testing AI agents
What it is
Teams at AI labs and evaluation companies who buy realistic, automatically graded tasks to train or test AI agents on software work. Self-contained tasks based on the software jobs we offer, such as moving a Rails app to a new host or repairing a build that broke after an update. Each comes with a working environment and an automatic grader we have tried to break before handing it over.
Exploring
Specific software fixes, upgrades and moves, each with its own page
What it is
Owners of an existing website, online shop or small app (WordPress, WooCommerce, Rails, PHP and similar) who need one specific thing fixed, changed, upgraded or moved, often without a developer of their own. A page for the exact job you need, saying what is included, what isn't, how we check it works and what it costs. You pick the job instead of asking for quotes.
Exploring
Tourism campaign research and evaluation
What it is
National parks, destination management organisations and councils that run tourism marketing campaigns and need to show what those campaigns achieved. A fixed-scope evaluation: your campaign and visitor data analysed, visitor surveys or interviews run by an independent fieldwork partner where needed, and a clear report on what the campaign did and didn't change.
Exploring
Tree work and planting for councils and housing providers
What it is
Council tree officers, housing associations and other public bodies that buy ad-hoc tree work or tree planting through tenders and purchasing systems. Synthetic Industry would act as your contractor: pricing your lot promptly, arranging qualified local arborists to do the work, and handling the paperwork, photos and close-out reports.

Taking enquiries

Taking enquiries
Move your Rails app from Heroku to Render
What it is
Businesses with one Rails web app and a Heroku Postgres database who want to move to hosting they control. One eligible Rails app and its database moved to your own Render account, checked in staging and against agreed production checks before sign-off.

Paused

Paused
A local paper for public notices where there isn't one
What it is
Councils and other bodies that must publish planning, traffic and other public notices in a local newspaper, especially in areas no longer served by one. A possible local title for your area, if it can build readership and qualify under public-notice rules. Nothing can carry statutory notices through us today.