Premoney 33: GuruWalk & GrowPay
A profitable travel company not to miss & a powerful payments API
Welcome to week 33! A quick lookback at a previous Premoney company, and a ***TRAVEL*** company are featured today. Many companies, like GuruWalk (below), whose model wasn’t easily transitioned to digital formats, are awaiting to reveal big regrowth plans come the end, or lessening of the pandemic in parts of the world. It’s an incredible time to seek out those businesses, identify potential breakouts, and contribute to their success.
Premoney Lookback: WithFriends
I featured withfriends last September when they announced their early product to support local businesses. The team has built a platform that helps local brick and mortar businesses increase their expected revenue by offering simple monthly membership products. Traditional retail meet consumer SaaS economics. This is incredibly powerful for the business owner, ESPECIALLY during times where foot traffic and sales insecurity plagues traffic-dependent businesses.
Today:
On average, withfriends increases a businesses revenue by ~60%
Each year they drive ~$2.5M in recurring revenue to businesses who use their tools.
This weeks companies:
Company: GuruWalk
Founder: Juan Castillo
Raise Details: Current round is almost completed. Looking for one more strategic with a minimum ticket of 30k at 6M Valuation..
Vertical: Marketplace, Travel
Business Model: Marketplace
1-Liner: The biggest marketplace of "free walking tours" in the world
Description: The only travel startup that hit a revenue record in 2020. Average growth rate of 30% in revenue during 2019. In August 2020, with just 2 weeks without mobility restrictions, we did 65k€ in net revenues that month (with -85% fewer travelers than 2019). If covid wouldn't happen, we will be swimming in money right now (and we will). Raising to overcome the last stretch (hopefully!) of Covid, and will use to expand as travel opens up.
Traction Indicators:
300k users
3000 guides
700 cities in 100 countries
Company: Growpay
Founder: Jamil Luketic
Raise Details: Raising $1M at a $10M cap
Vertical: Fintech, SaaS,Payments
Business Model: SaaS, Subscription, Platform
1-Liner: One payments platform and API.
Description: We help online merchants easily integrate and manage their entire payments stack in a single platform. We do this to bring greater transparency into how a merchants payments stack is performing, alongside saving merchants time and money juggling complex integrations. Investors should be excited by this opportunity as we agnostic to all payments types, allowing us to capitalise and support the next-generation of ecommerce and payments.
Traction Indicators:
5 paying clients
+ 3 advisors secured across payments and wealth management.
All for this week! Keep sending & sharing and let’s help our founders succeed!
See you next week,
Jake