London-based truRating has won the coveted €10,000 prize in the first CARTES SECURE CONNEXIONS Startup Challenge.
Georgina Nelson, founder and CEO of the London-based firm, said: “Itís amazing: 10,000 Euro is a huge amount for a start-up. But having backing from CARTES also elevates the brand.” The Startup Challenge, held in partnership with Fabernovel, aims to support new entrepreneurs.
Five young companies pitched their ideas to a panel of experts, who decided that
Founded in 2012, the firm is a ratings service which can be used across a range of payment devices, including chip&PIN terminals, POS systems, online and mobile payment gateways. Having a trusted review process is vital for businesses and consumers, Nelson goes on. “We are trying to change the fact that bosses only hear from 0.1% of their customer base - and 74% of customers donít trust what they read. There is a disconnect.” Retailers can gather sentiment data from the majority of their customers and link it with transactional spend and product purchases - information which can then be viewed on a user-friendly dashboard.
As part of its prize, TruRating will have a guaranteed presence at one of the three CARTES events in 2015, in either Hong Kong, Washington or Paris.
“Having a stand at CARTES next year is great because start-ups do not usually get that opportunity,” Nelson says. The small business has big ideas, planning to launch with big retailers such as Tesco, McDonaldís and the Arcadia Group in the first quarter of 2015. “Over the next 12 months we intend to widely establish ourselves in the UK and Australian markets, with other international roll-outs across parts of South America, Europe and North America,” Nelson concludes. “In three years we hope to be a globally-recognised brand, providing the most trusted source of customer feedback, giving consumers a voice and helping businesses to improve.”
