22. Yoyo Wallet

Founders: Michael Rolph and Alain Falys
Founded: May 2013 (launched January 2014)
Website: www.yoyowallet.com

Entrepreneurs have been struggling to realise the full potential of mobile payments for the best part of a decade, but where others have failed, founders of Yoyo Wallet Michael Rolph and Alain Falys hope to succeed.

The mobile platform solution seamlessly blends payments, loyalty and discovery to develop better relationships between consumers and retailers. Recognising that payments alone are not enough for people to become active users, Yoyo provides tools that allow the retailer to target customers with rewards, offers and incentives based on profile and purchase history data.

The company’s main clients are universities and high street retailers, with plans underway to launch at a further 30 universities and 60 head offices across the UK this September. In the last year the app has gone from processing 15,000 to 150,000 transactions a month, and is currently growing at around 20% month-on-month.

The mobile payments market is a tough one to conquer, but with a wealth of experience in fintech and payments between them, and the backing of $15m investment – thanks to a $5m seed round followed by a $10m Series A, Rolph and Falys look like the men for the job.