A Norfolk start-up is set to take on Amazon to become the online retail choice for shoppers.

Greenr, which is due to launch its shopping platform at the end of August, aims to provide a way for people to easily buy sustainable products online.

The company has already attracted the attention of global brand Virgin, beating thousands of applicants from across the UK to be named as one of 12 firms to be part of its Collective Impact Programme.

This scheme helps new businesses to attract investment.

Thomas Panton, 26, who co-founded the company with Hugo Douglas-Deane, 27 and Emma Andrews, 30, said that they were aiming to attract £350,000 of investment to help its launch and early growth.

The business partners, who all live in Norwich, have already received £50,000 of funding from the University of East Anglia (UEA) and a further £50,000 from independent investors.

Once the shopping platform launches in the summer, Mr Panton said that they aim for it to "provide the same accessibility as Amazon".

"But Greenr is being position as a way to shop and have a better impact on the environment," he added.

Mr Panton said that the idea for the business came after realising that although many people want to shop more sustainably and do not know how to do it.

He said: "42pc of consumers find buying sustainably too complicated or know what it means.

"We want to make sustainable shopping easier by doing the hard work of researching and finding sustainable brands for you."

Although the shopping platform has already signed up 100 companies, Mr Panton said that they have 700 prospective businesses to add to the platform.

"But not just any business can sign up, we have to make sure they are genuinely sustainable," he said.

The business partners already have big plans for their company, hoping to become a global platform.

For now, however, they are focusing on offering "UK-based businesses to UK customers".

Mr Panton said they plan to grow to 50 employees within three years from having six, including the founders, at the launch.

No matter how big they grow, he said they aim to always keep their head office in Norfolk.