For the next blog in our series profiling trailblazing women in cleantech, the Grantham Institute’s Linsey Wynton chats to Megan Hale (pictured), CEO and Co-Founder of Team Repair, which progressed through Undaunted‘s accelerator program, The Greenhouse, in 2023.
As a teen, Megan Hale knew she wasn’t destined for a job sitting behind someone else’s desk. She was going to run her own business. Megan loved taking broken stuff apart and fixing it. So, when she found out about a Master’s in Design Engineering at Imperial College London, she knew it was for her.
It was there that she met Anais Engelmann and Oscar Jones (pictured). The trio launched Team Repair, a circular business that teaches kids to fix electrical products, from remote-controlled cars to game consoles.
Megan wants to give young people the confidence to repair things, and in doing so, help reduce the 60 million tonnes of electronics that are chucked away each year while also encouraging more young people into STEM careers. In 2024, she was named on the WISE100 list of the UK’s leading women in social enterprise, impact investment and mission-driven business. She is an Innovate UK Young Innovator 2022 and a trustee of the Mayor’s Fund for London, a charity that champions young Londoners facing barriers and offers them upskilling opportunities.
Here’s how it all happened.
What spurred you on to become an entrepreneur?
I’ve always wanted to start a business that could make people’s lives better. I remember when I first saw that there was a course at Imperial in Design Engineering, where I could be hands on and potentially start a business with an idea. I came home from school and said to my mum: “This is the course I’m going to do”.
During my time at university, I was always very interested in the business side of the course. In our final year, we had a module called Enterprise Roll Out, where my course mates and I came up with the idea of Team Repair. That’s when we applied to Imperial’s Enterprise Lab and other university startup competitions to see if we could get anywhere with it. Then it really spiralled out of control – and in a very good way! When we left university, we had enough funding to give it a go. I’m grateful for that because I can take a salary to be able to live, unlike some innovators who can only get going by relying on funding from family.
Where did your self-belief come from?
This was always what I wanted to do, so I knew it was worth the risk. My parents have always worked for themselves, my dad is a builder and my mum is a beautician. The decision to start a business felt normal, whereas working for a big company felt unnatural to me — and them.
My parents couldn’t give me the money to start this business, but I inherited their drive. I didn’t have the fear of failure because I’ve seen that, no matter what happens with their businesses, they find a way to make it work. They believe that the more you put in, the more you get out; and that you can be your own boss and set your own boundaries. I saw them doing all that.
What have been some of the highs and lows of your startup journey?
When we initially came up with the idea for Team Repair, it was a massive high — but it was also very difficult. It was almost as if my master’s was a side project and Team Repair was a full-time job.
There have been many low points, but they are worth it for the big highs that come with it. Recently, I found a video of when we got our first ever at-home sale, which I uploaded to TikTok. It is so nice to look back at it because we’re screaming in excitement in Oscar’s living room: “Somebody’s spent £38 on us. Somebody’s bought a kit!” It is days like those that make it worth it. And as an entrepreneur you need to be crazily optimistic that this is going to work.
Team Repair initially won funding from Santander X Global, The Mayor’s Entrepreneur Forum and Innovate UK. How did you go about getting further investment?
In January 2024 we decided we were going to start raising investment. We were very fortunate to have raised more than £150k in grants previously, so we’d been able to bootstrap for a long time. When it came to the point that our potential was being capped by the money in the bank, I knew we had to think about investment.
After reading the book Raise by Julia Elliott Brown, I made a pitch deck. That was my first step, and I love that book because it is the bare bones of how to talk to an investor — a daunting process as you are literally asking them to write you a cheque! I assumed it would flop, and I’d look back and think “wow, this is awful!”, but you have to throw away your ego and learn by trial and error. I improved it according to the reactions I got from those I sent it to, and we ended up getting investment from some angel investors in 2024, supporting us via an advanced subscription agreement. That enabled us to get quick money into the bank in March — the time angel investors are looking to maximise the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme and the Enterprise Investment Scheme tax incentives at the end of the financial year.
Why do you think getting investment is particularly challenging for women?
There is bias but it’s also linked to confidence, which is societal. We see that when we take Team Repair to classrooms and the girls start to do our activity. Some of them will always say: “I’m not good at science. I can’t do this.”
Women may not always have the confidence to go into these investor meetings and announce that their idea is an incredible opportunity where you are going to make X times your money, as it can feel unnatural. It made my skin crawl at first. But I remember going to one of Julia Elliott Brown’s events and she got everyone to get up to do an elevator pitch. Then she got us to sit down and rewrite it with more confidence to request large investments on the basis that the investor is going to miss out if they don’t invest right now.
I think women are often more realistic with the financial side. When you’re putting crazy growth figures on the slides, it can feel like overegging but it’s all about the narrative you’re telling. It’s about playing the game. Creating FOMO [Fear of Missing Out] is essential!
Are there any changes you’d like to see for female founders in terms of pitching?
Investors need more awareness that if a woman is pitching to a venture capitalist for the first time that women might not have mentors who have explained exactly how to play this game. It will change when more women and minorities get funding and are better able to support others to get into the right circles, because it is all about networking. You can have the most fabulous business but if you don’t have a network that will support you then it’s going to be much harder.
I have an Imperial network who I can ask about accountant recommendations or raising investment by certain methods. I can have a ten-minute call with someone instead of spending an hour Googling! And as an entrepreneur, your time is your biggest resource.
What tips would you offer women thinking about a career as an innovator or who are at an early stage?
You need to decide what you want from the business, whether that’s sustainable growth or a venture capitalist-backed approach. It’s ultimately about personal preference.
You also need to work out who your role model is. I read books about entrepreneurship and follow some female founders on LinkedIn. If you can’t initially find that network in real life the power of social media and books and podcasts is great.
I’m part of Sharmadean Reid’s huge female community on LinkedIn, The Stack World. I just read her book New Methods for Women, which isn’t an entrepreneurship book as such, but about the bigger picture of what you want from your life and going for it. I recommend it!
Applications for Undaunted’s flagship accelerator program, The Greenhouse, are now open. Over 12-months, successful applicants will receive expert guidance, a £20k equity-free grant, and access to Imperial’s world-class facilities and networks to help validate their business model, land pilots, raise investment. Applications close on 31 August.
Read more about women leading the field in cleantech innovation.
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