This time last year, our team was just setting our sites on a 2020 launch. With no foresight as to the massive disruption that lay ahead of us, we had just signed our first deal with MasterCard/Gateway and were excited for the opportunities ahead. We knew the opportunity was significant for the payments industry: lots of other companies are still trying to reengineer their platforms to do what Qolo has built from the ground up.
We were ready to get moving.
And, truthfully we haven’t stopped moving since!
While the overall stressors of the pandemic continue to be a tiresome factor for us all, the event itself didn’t have major implications on our launch in June.
As Tearsheet aptly captured, “Launching a new firm in the face of this global crisis takes fortitude. Timing couldn’t be worse. Or could it? Demand for different types of digital payments is ramping. That’s the space Qolo plays in. A bit like Marqeta, a bit like Fiserv, the company was launched by a team with a lot of payments industry experience to be a next-generation B2B payments hub and an all-in-one payments solution.”
Since that time, we have implemented a host of industry firsts and premier partnerships: in July we partnered with gift card innovator, Telos Gifting, to deliver the first secure, real-time card fulfilment program allowing consumers and companies instantaneous gift card fulfillment and customization; later that same month, we teamed up with moneycorp to deliver an integrated cross-border business payment solution where clients benefit from lower FX costs, faster processing and automated money movement; and, in September we welcomed former Marqeta COO, Eric Bachman, as a board member.
To-date we have signed seven clients, with four more ready for contracts. Our current capabilities include full stack card processing, omnichannel payment types both in/out, flexible ledger system, and our Interact embedded processing. We offer packaged solutions, transaction processing, as well as a fully licensed platform model. We flex between the three models depending on client needs.
Companies and investors continue to gravitate to us because of our breadth and depth of experience and domain expertise. We have gotten tremendous interest in our value proposition from individual investors, financial institutions and venture capital firms alike. The feedback we have received regarding one of our key differentiators, our embedded processing capabilities, represents the next step in payments functionality: enabling fintechs to be a part of the payment authorization process in a more integrated way than our competitors.
And this trust has been borne out through the success of a recent convertible note round. We recently raised $3.8 million, bringing the total raised to $6.8M. The proceeds will be used to invest in key opportunities, product expansion and hiring seasoned talent.
So, what’s on the plate for this new year? We’ll pursue a formal Series A fundraising round in Q2; productize some of the features in our current platform; set our sights on international growth, and work on engagement tools for our current clients.
There’s a new year ahead of us, and an energized base of companies and fintech firms looking to improve the way they do business. Qolo continues its acceleration. Stick with us, we’re just getting started.
