Far From - Cohort I Founder Spotlight

Who is Oscar?

Oscar Heaney is a Business Finance and Management graduate from the University of East Anglia, graduating with a first-class honours in 2025. Starting Far From during his last term at university, he has since built a live platform with hundreds of users and has already raised institutional financing for Far From — all before most people his age have had their first investor meeting.

Oscar leads the finance and operations, working alongside co-founders Sarah and Nandor. He is organised, commercially sharp, and not afraid to pitch to a room.

Why is Oscar building it?

Travel is expensive. For people wanting comfortable and private accommodation especially, the cost of experiencing the world is a real barrier. But across the UK and wider, there are hosts — farms, estates, vineyards, glamping sites — who need willing hands and have premium spaces to offer in return.

Oscar has lived this firsthand — travelling extensively across different countries and experiencing work-for-accommodation exchanges himself. His co-founder Sarah brings years of the same — someone who has spent a long time immersed in this style of travel and understands it from the inside out.

What did Oscar build?

Far From is a work-for-accommodation platform connecting travellers with hosts for authentic, immersive volunteering stays ALL offering private, comfortable accommodation. Travellers search for experiences — grape picking, caring for animals, maintaining a 16th-century estate — and stay for free in exchange for a few hours of voluntary work a day, and leave with something that can't be bought through a standard booking platform.

The platform is live. Over 90 hosts are already listed within the UK, and travellers are actively booking stays. Far From is also supported by the Listed Property Owners Club, Wines of Great Britain, Historic Houses Association, the British Alpaca Society, and other organisations — a credible network of partners that shows the model has real traction in the market it's targeting.

Where is Oscar taking it?

On 27th May at Revolut HQ, Oscar delivered the standout pitch of the day — and the room voted for it. He was awarded the People's Choice Award by the audience.

Simon Squibb didn't just give feedback. He offered Oscar the potential to use one of his own properties as a Far From host location — a direct, practical co-sign from one of the UK's most well-known entrepreneurial voices.

Far From has already raised investment. It has partners. It has a live platform and customers. And now it has the People's Choice and Simon Squibb in its corner.

What did Oscar say about the programme?

“The programme provided me with an opportunity unlike anything I have done before, giving me the chance to connect with other founders, mentors and experts, whilst creating an environment where everyone wanted to help each other.”