Click photo to enlarge
Using their heads: PocketSmith co-founders (from left)
James Wigglesworth, Jason Leong and Francois Bondiguel are
proving Dunedin companies with few funds can still generate
global business.
A Dunedin tech company less than a year old has signed a
contract to provide online financial planning services to a
potential 18.5 million people worldwide.
PocketSmith, co-founded by Jason Leong, Francois Bondiguel
and James Wigglesworth in June last year, has been contracted
by the world's largest employee services company, United
States-based Workplace Options, to help its client companies'
employees with budgeting and financial planning.
‘‘Welcome to the new face of global business,'' Mr Leong
said. ‘‘Three chairs, a couple of desks and three laptops.''
PocketSmith is a budgeting software tool that helps people
forecast expenses and income so they can monitor their
cashflow as they work towards financial goals.
The three men, whose company is based in the University of
Otago's Centre for Innovation, built the PocketSmith
application on their laptop computers.
Four months of negotiations with Workplace Options and its UK
division, Employee Advisory Resource, resulted in the
contract, which will see PocketSmith offered to the global
company's 10,000 client organisations, which collectively
employ 18.5 million people.
Workplace Options president Alan King said his company liked
PocketSmith's simple and appealing approach to financial
management.
‘‘Offering employees access to debt-management resources is a
win-win situation that many companies are embracing,'' Mr
King said.
‘‘It empowers workers to be more focused at work, proactive
with financial matters and to better manage their stress.''
Finalising the contract was ‘‘slightly anti-climactic'', Mr
Leong said.
‘‘It was sealed over a teleconference at about 5am. ‘We
celebrated with breakfast at Capers and then went back to
work.
‘‘Of course a deal is not really a deal until the first
payment is in the bank. But that has now happened.''
Mr Leong declined to say how much the contract was worth.
‘‘It's not in the millions but it is good enough. ‘It's a
solid commercial contract . . . which is important for
building credibility.'' PocketSmith is now in negotiation
with several New Zealand banks.
The application is also available on the internet as a
stand-alone product.
‘‘Now the hard work just begins. PocketSmith has to keep
growing and evolving to remain competitive,'' Mr Leong said.
- Visit the PocketSmith website at www.pocketsmith.com
