Dunedin tech firm lands US deal

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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 [2]