Tech startup eyes Xmas growth
Cam Richardson will forever remember his 21st birthday present.
At the time Richardson was a ‘‘poor student’’, as were many of his friends for that matter.
What unfolded at his 21st birthday both shocked him and triggered an idea for a tech startup that he now hopes will go global.
‘‘My flatmates pulled me aside and I was ushered inside. They filled the whole thing with smoke and drove this three-wheeled motorbike inside and said: this is your present.’’ Individually we could only afford maybe a mug or a T-shirt, they had got a lot of people, friends and students together to get me that. I was blown away.’’
It became a point of difference for his friend group around celebrations.
Instead of being handed a lot of potentially small meaningless plastic throwaway items at birthdays, they would unite for something more significant.
It has led to Richardson developing PaySquad, a tech startup that is all about paying together.
It went live ‘‘properly’’ last month and Richardson felt with Christmas looming now might be a growth opportunity as the concept takes its next steps.
While not wanting to pick a fight with payment services such as Afterpay or Laybuy, Richardson has suggested people don’t pay later but instead pay together at a time when many people are challenged financially.
The idea of PaySquad is for multiple
people to be able to directly buy from a merchant, rather than having to split the cost after the purchase.
A PaySquad link will be available at check-outs and when someone clicks on it, they can contribute the amount they want and then send the link to others that might be interested in paying for that joint item.
‘‘Usually one person has to pay for the full amount and then wait for their friends to pay them back. Some people pay back slowly and some people never pay back, and there is some friction there.
‘‘Rather than having the random idea where I will cover this and you cover that, bringing that together to make it all clear is on the horizon.’’ PaySquad is at the ‘‘proof of concept’’ phase.
It is operating at the moment at a gift card level with a focus on retail.
The plan is to raise some more capital around the middle of next year as PaySquad scales up.
‘‘There are already some people who are committed to that.
‘‘The really exciting thing is proving this concept has traction and has legs. So 2023 is going to be a big year.
‘‘We are taking on the world here from Invercargill.’’
Richardson and PaySquad have already captured some global attention by being accepted into Founder University Cohort 4 which is facilitated by American entrepreneur Jason Calacanis.
Richardson felt there were many other areas outside of retail where PaySquad could be implemented in the future.
It included concerts and events, allowing groups to buy tickets together without some of the current hassles.
Tourism groups and sporting teams are other possible avenues where PaySquad could be used.
‘‘Ultimately PaySquad exists to help people do things together.’’
Most companies are eager now to emphasise their sustainable benefits and Richardson felt PaySquad did tick that box.
If the focus switched from a whole heap of throwaway items at Christmas and instead turned to joining together for more significant items, there would be sustainable benefits, Richardson said.
‘‘You try to think of nice things to get people but you do end up with a lot of plastic at times.’’