59. Thyngs

Founders: Dr Neil Garner
Founded: March 2018
Website: www.thyngs.net

Dr Neil Garner claims to have pioneered mobile proximity marketing and mobile contactless payments for major brands as founder of Proxama.

Now he’s brought that technology to his new project Thyngs – the mobile technology platform that can turn any physical object into an unattended point of sale (POS) – connecting buyers, sellers, and brands.

The start-up’s hardware and software platform provides everything they need to add a QR/NFC sticker or Bluetooth low energy beacon to an object or location. Smartphone users can then tap, scan or go near the object to be linked directly to services or mobile content.

The brand just needs to log on to the secure, cloud-based management tool to configure the action, which could be taking payments, bringing packaging to life and getting consumers to engage with promotions.  This information can be measured to see how it drives customer acquisition, loyalty and sales.

Thyngs hybrid revenue model consists of a platform subscription, physical hardware products, transaction fees and professional services. It integrates with some of the major players in the space including PayPal, WorldPay, Stripe and NFC Products.

It all happened at a good time for the recently started business after Apple announced that it would support NFC reading in their phones, opening up 50% of the mobile phone market overnight.

The next year will see the start-up embark on a period of rapid growth by hiring talent, acquiring clients, driving revenue and product development marketing fuelled by a recent crowdfunding round.

Eventually it hopes to become the de facto method of making a mobile payment from any physical object.