Big funding boost for POS software start up

Just one year after its global launch, New Zealand Point Of Sale (POS) software start up Vend is poised for major growth following an injection of capital from a European investment consortium led by Point Nine Capital.

Vend founder and CEO Vaughan Rowsell says his team of six could grow to around 15 as the company expands its product and builds its customer base.

"When we launched, we targeted operators that were slightly younger, who we thought would naturally gravitate towards online solutions,” Rowsell says.

"Even then we thought it might be a little bit too new. We were happy to be proved wrong.”

Vend offers POS services via the cloud, making it easy to implement upgrades and allowing integration with other web software like Xero.

In 12 months the company’s customer base has grown from two beta customers to several thousand across more than 80 countries.

Rowsell says those customers have been providing ideas for expanding the service, and the extra capital will be instrumental in delivering on those ideas.

"In the beginning we just wanted to prove you could do it. Now, there’s a retail revolution happening, and we want to be right in the middle of it.

"We can do things other vendors can only dream of.”

Rowsell, who counts TradeMe founder Sam Morgan among his investors, says kiwi start ups have the potential to be among the best in the world.

"As a country, when it comes to cloud-based stuff we definitely punch above our weight.”

Go here for more info on Vend.