Ma¯ori technology firm going global
Ma¯ori-owned technology company RIP Global is hoping to raise US$10 million (NZ$14m) overseas next year to take the company’s ‘‘gamechanging’’ technology into global markets.
Founder and chief executive Mel Gollan has built and patented a process that saves a lot of time by automating the recording and reconciling of expenses and purchases.
The process was unique, she said, and had been granted seven patents in various regions around the world.
It was likely thatWellingtonbased RIP Global would raise money in the United States and maybe some in Singapore and Australia, Gollan said. It would probably start in April. ‘‘It’s a reasonable size raise we’re going to be doing, probably US$10m.’’
RIP is an acronym for receipts, invoices and payments. The product was a contactless mobile app, Gollan said. ‘‘It allows you to code, justify and pay for your business purchase when you make it.’’ Itmeant that the purchaser did not have to collect a receipt, scan it, code it and justify the expense.
The No 1most hated task of businesses everywhere was processing invoices and receipts, Gollan said. She had done it countless times in her previous employment. She had designed RIP’s product for herself, so it was simple and easy to use.
Typically, in large organisations a receipt went through seven to nine sets of hands, which was where the cost was, Gollan said. Businesses using the RIP app wanted to cut costs and improve productivity and transparency.
She had raised about $5m in the past few years from friends and family. This included US$2.2m from
Florida-basedWildermuth Endowment Fund.
The company is about 75 per centMa¯ori-owned. Gollan is of Ma¯ori descent – her great-great-greatgrandfather was Atama Paparangi, a Te Rarawa chief.
She won the MWDIMa¯ori Women’s Innovator of the Year award in 2019.
In New Zealand, RIP’s customers include a government agency, big accountancy firmGrant Thornton, mortgage brokers, advertising agencies and real estate agencies.
The software was ‘‘a game changer’’ in terms of business control, Gollan said. There were many expensing products, but none of them were automated like RIP’s.
It could ‘‘plug and play in every single business’’, she said. RIP’s product integrated into all accounting systems, including Xero and MYOB.
She declined to reveal the company’s turnover or staff numbers. An article in Mergermarket in October reported that RIP had about $1m in revenue in the 2019 financial year, with Gollan saying this could rise to $10m in two to three years, and about 12 staff, with the company looking to add another two.
RIP had planned to launch in the US in March, but then the Covid-19 pandemic hit.
Gollan said she was in Singapore and partnering with point of sale (POS) company Raptor, the first POS company in Singapore with which it was integrating its technology. This gave RIP access to 5000 hospitality merchants like bars, restaurants and cafes. Citibank would also be one of its payment partners.
Gollan said Singapore was RIP’s first exportmarket. The company was also about to run a pilot in Florida with a health and wellbeing company, and in Sydney with the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
The medium to longer-term goal was to offer shares in an IPO (initial public offering) on the New York Stock Exchange, she said.
Because every business processed invoices and receipts, ‘‘this is such amassive opportunity for export revenue for New Zealand’’, Gollan said.