Mobile payment app fails as innovation fails to create critical mass

DROPLET, the app which had ambitions to make in-person payments mobile-first, has been withdrawn.

The Birmingham firm admitted defeat in creating a business with sufficient scale to be profitable after five years of trying.

That was despite rolling out the app to 10 cities last year and securing what it described as a “landmark deal” with catering company Elior at the start of 2016.

Steffan Aquarone, chief executive of Droplet, said he was “extremely sad” but that “sometimes things don’t work out”.

He is now seeking a buyer for the technology and IP the business has.

He said: “We always knew it would take significant investment to give Droplet the scale it would need to succeed. In spite of being well supported by our investors through thick and thin and having tens of thousands of customers and hundreds of paying merchants, we never got to the scale to make Droplet viable as a profit-making business.”

Droplet said customers’ money will be automatically repaid.