Yapster raises £2.6m to fuel future growth
It’s official - our latest investment round has now closed!
Clockwise from top left: Nick Carter, Eloise Sheppard, Mike Wroe, Baroness Bottomley, Ashton Crosby, Julian Seaward.
We couldn't be prouder to have the support of some amazing industry veterans, including the faces you see above.
We are immensely grateful to all of our investors for their backing and confidence. Also, none of this would be possible without our amazing team and customers, you’re our heroes!
We will be surging ahead with building the ‘mobile inbox’ for the world’s two billion deskless workers who don’t access company IT systems on a computer (if at all). Founded in 2015 with a focus on customer-facing industries, four years on our instant messaging and social sharing platform is now being used to deliver business improvement at the front line for brands including Ann Summers, Brewdog, Caffè Nero, , Safestore and Wagamama.
The progress we’ve made this year means we expect to finish 2019 with more than 150% year-on-year growth in customers under contract and a 30-strong team (up from 15 this time last year).
As first announced in the Mail on Sunday, the full £2.6m was secured from private investors, with a focus on continuing to add industry and functional expertise to prepare us for, and guide us through the next phase of rapid growth across product development, sales and marketing.
Welcome to our new investors, including former Pizza Express and Halfords CFO Nick Carter, Wasabi board member and former Tesco executive Ashton Crosby, and Julian Seaward, ex-operating partner for TDR Capital (Stonegate Pub Company, David Lloyd Leisure). Advertising industry legend Bruce Crouch, who was the creative mind behind iconic campaigns for some of the best-known consumer brands (Levi’s, Audi, Boddington’s), has also invested.
They add further strength and depth to Yapster’s investor community which already included former Just Eat CFO Mike Wroe, ex General Manager of WHSmith Asia Patricia Poon, and Eloise Sheppard, MD of leading on-site wireless communications company Call Systems Technology.
“We’ve had a good year, but the high calibre of investors we’ve been able to attract to the business is more testament to the huge opportunity ahead of us,” said Yapster co-founder and CEO Rob Liddiard. “The iPhone is 12 years old, yet large sections of the working population are chronically under-served by technology. We’re here to change that and our challenge now is to show the wider market what our customers already know - that fast, effective front line communication can be truly transformative.”
"I know from my 25 years in retail and hospitality that effective communication in stores or restaurants, and company-wide engagement, are big challenges,” added investor Nick Carter. “When aligned, the positive impact on morale, staff retention and financial results can be huge. It seemed to me that there is a massive opportunity for Yapster's offer of speedy, secure mobile messaging - the product-market fit was obvious when you look at their recent traction and the brands they're already working with. Plus, the senior team have a nice balance of skills and I believe they are capable of building something special which has the potential to travel internationally."
Of course, gearing up for a huge 2020 means new customers, new partners and features, and - of course - new faces. If you want to be part of the story get in touch.
