Kwikpay
The fast & convenient way to manage & control all your prepaid services in one app
- Location
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London,
United Kingdom
Categories: Finance & Payments Digital B2C
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Investment
sought: - £150,000
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Equity
offered: - 3.73%
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Investment
amount: - £168,821
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Valuation
(pre-money): - £3,875,599
Idea
Introduction
Apps have made our lives so much easier, yet we struggle with simple services like top up of prepaid mobiles or have to use several websites, each with a password, for a host of other services.
Enter Kwikpay - what we believe to be the UK’s first digital platform for top up of prepaid mobile and prepaid services. With key USPs of ease, convenience and being “on-the-go” “in under a minute”.
KwikPay offers an intuitive IoS/android app for top-up of multiple pre-paid services. This includes the major mobile operators in the UK, and for customers with families and loved ones in distant countries, through a third party, we also enable top up of mobiles in about 100 countries.
We don’t want to stop just here. Our vision is to become a “platform for top up of any prepaid service”. We have most recently added XBOX and intend to add further services such as Nintendo, Spotify, Skype, Deezer, kobo & there after prepaid TV, gifting, cinema, travel & prepaid utilities to Kwikpay.
Intended impact
It all started when I personally struggled to ensure the mobiles of my 2 kids and my elderly parents were always working. Add to this, each of my kids has different gaming needs, ITunes and Google play account.
I don’t seem to be alone, of the 8 million children between the ages of 5-15 years old, almost 1.83m have mobile phones on a pre-paid tariff. Further research confirmed that the above issue is shared by them and also by the 30 million other prepaid users.
Kwikpay offers an easy to use android/ IoS app for top up of such prepaid services.
The intuitive interface allows customers to repeat the transactions even faster. In case of people with families and loved ones in different parts of the world, Kwikpay enables top up of not just their UK mobiles but also in about 100 countries.
Kwikpay will enable parents to top up and control multiple services for multiple kids from a single app. To this end we already have mobile top up for multiple operators as well as top up for gaming service like Xbox on to the app and intend to shortly add other gaming services which will add to the convenience for parents.
Substantial accomplishments to date
Kwikpay's beta IoS and Android app are now live on both the app stores.
From early on Kwikpay has attracted transacting customers and has generated revenues*. Our customers have actively provided feedback which has helped us improve the app, now in its 7th version.
Our app has achieved a 4 + Star rating across both the app stores. Some of the key highlights are:
• Achieved more than 5,500 registered users.
• 10,000+ successful transactions.
• £95k+ of top-up value from these customers .
• 83% of registered users proceed to do a transaction on Kwikpay.
• 31% of the customers have found us organically.
• Regular updates to the apps and backend processes - now in version 7.
• Integrated Paypal as a payment mechanism hence increasing trust & convenience.
• Now also live with XBOX top up and are aiming to launch top up for Spotify, Nintendo , Skype, Kobo, Deezer.
Kwikpay is currently integrating with a third party to provide promotional vouchers of high street brands / restaurants and entertainment providers. Kwikpay intends to use these as an acquisition and reward tool for attracting and retaining customers.
*Source: Unaudited accounts
Monetisation strategy
Kwikpay envisions multiple revenue streams. In the current business plan, 100% of revenues are expected to come from B2C, but B2B revenues are also expected in the future.
1) B2C revenues : Kwikpay earns a commission from the service provider whose top up is enabled through the platform. In addition to this, Kwikpay also charges a small processing fee to the end customer for the convenience that the platform offers.
2) B2B Revenues : Kwikpay is looking to become a destination platform for top up of any prepaid service. This would attract service providers who want to position their services to the Kwikpay customer base.
Use of proceeds
Kwikpay has now proven the business case for such a service, we have acquired customers who have successfully transacted on the platform and returned for repeat purchase.
Kwikpay is now positioned to ramp up its user base and we intend to use this funding as below:
1) Customer acquisition : 50% of the funds raised will be utilised for ramping up the customer base.
2) Technology development : 20% of the funds will be used for improving the technology adding enhanced features such as, chat support, voice based activation and loyalty platform.
3) Team development : 30% of the funds would be used for enhancing the team in marketing, product development and adding new services.
The Company has £10,000 worth of loans from the founder and a shareholder. None of the funds raised will be used to finance this loan.
Market
Target market
Kwipay is initially targeting its app towards the following 2 customer segments:
1) Generation Y ( 18-24 ) .
2) Parents ( with pre-teen / teen children) .
Gen Y 18 –24:
This segment is extremely comfortable with technology and apps, they also constitute the largest segment of online / app shoppers. A third of the prepaid mobile users in UK are in this segment with upwards of 95% of them owning smartphones.
Our research on this segment highlights:
• Only 6% of users use their providers website for top up.
• A vast majority of these consumers still resort to offline retail for their top up.
• 24% use cash machines, text messages or phone to top-up.
• 67% of the respondents would prefer to use a website or mobile app if all of the above services were available in one place.
• 73% of the 18-24 are active gamers on a device
• 8 + million adults are users of gaming consoles like Xbox, PSP, Nintendo.
Parents (with pre-teen / teen children).
Of the 8 million children between the ages of 5-15 years old, almost 1.83m have mobile phones on a pre-paid tariff and a good 4+ million of these children are users of console games of some kind. A research conducted by Kwikpay on parents of teenagers has indicated the following:
• 79% found managing top up of multiple services for their children a problem.
• 76% of the parents also responded that a top up platform with mobile and digital gaming services top up would be a very useful offer and they would definitely be users of such a service.
Characteristics of target market
Prepaid mobile constitutes more than 36% of the total mobile telephony in UK. We estimate the market to be valued upwards of £2 billion per annum. Within this GenY, students, teens & preteens and immigrants being the main users.
Digital entertainment with companies like Spotify, Deezer, Kobo and console gaming are already multi billion pound markets and increasingly more products are being launched in the digital services most of which are aimed towards GenY and teens.
GenY are heavily reliant on technology to the point of stubbornness to use mobile devices to specifically do everything. This extreme impatience and need to solve problems here and now is the need that is fulfilled by Kwikpay and will be exploited by us in reaching out to this target segment.
Parents of teens and pre-teens are already reliant on technology for making payments for their children for dinner money and other school needs. Kwikpay will explore opportunities of piggy backing on some of these networks to exploit this target segment.
Marketing strategy
Kwikpay will use multiple acquisition channels to drive user growth. This will be done together with mobile marketing across major online and social media platforms.
Our story is about simplicity and ubiquity, any mobile, any operator anytime in 3 easy steps.
Our strategy is to have clear and benefit driven campaigns that demonstrate value to our target users. We will further refine our campaign as we evolve our marketing messages and drive user adoption.
Kwikpay has already generated upwards of 5,500 users which has given us a profile to use on major social media networks like Facebook and go after the ‘like user’ to drive initial acquisition in a cost effective way. This profile will also help Kwikpay drive user acquisition through a targeted PPC programme across other major social media networks.
Advertising Leaflet ‘drops’ in key segment locations supported by promotional offers - this would include high traction locations with key target customers like college campuses and student towns.
In our early testing we feel that we proved that word of mouth marketing can play a significant role in the adoption of the Kwikpay service. We plan to exploit this and will look to communities where early adopters will spread the word ie, university campuses and parental communities. We will identify early adopters within these communities and use incentive driven campaigns to promote word of mouth referrals. Kwikpay is also integrating with a third party to provide promotional vouchers for a host of high street / restaurants and entertainment services vouchers which kwikpay will bundle along with each top up to provide additional benefit to the customers to drive user acquisition.
Competition strategy
Kwikpay's core offering is of ease, convenience and on the go. Kwikpay offers this across multiple service providers and multiple services.
The current competition for the kwikpay multifaceted platforms are the e-platforms operated by individual service providers for their services.
We believe that Kwikpay does not have direct competition that offers to its customers a convenience of top up of multiple services for multiple operators from a single app. This unique proposition will be exploited by Kwikpay in pitching its service offering to the two target segments that kwikpay will go after. Kwikpay has the opportunity of cross promoting multiple services to its target customers and will exploit this proposition in differentiating itself from the operators own offerings.