App developer secures new funding to expand business
A Birmingham tech entrepreneur who has created an app allowing users to order and pay for food while also providing customer insight to business owners has received a six-figure investment for the business.
Developed by Lee Nazari, SWOOPOS is a mobile point-of-sale system which offers several payment solutions aimed at helping merchants accept mobile payments, enable cashless transactions, adopt mPOS solutions, create loyalty rewards and provide data analytics software, among other products.
SWOOPOS’ parent company, Mobile Pay Systems has received £300,000 of investment from private investors in return for a 5% share in a business valued at £6m.
The funding will be used to support SWOOPOS’ further business development, which includes setting up a 24-hour support team to deal with customer queries.
Around 80 businesses across the Midlands are now using SWOOPOS and the aim is to see this grow to 300 across the country by the end of the year.
Mr Nazari, who worked in corporate finance before establishing the business in 2015, said: “I’ve been involved with the retail industry in some capacity since I was 12 when my father opened a business of his own. I am an ideas guy so when I go into a restaurant or a shop, and see some of the problems customers may be having with payment or other things, I come up with ways to fix them. That’s really where SWOOPOS came from.
“SWOOPOS is an easy to use, all in one system for a range of businesses. Users have a convenient way pick out and pay for food by using the SWOOPE app which connects to the system, and it has the added value for businesses as they can study customer trends and develop new products and services. It also has an inventory management function.”
To support his business, Mr Nazari joined NatWest business accelerator Entrepreneurial Spark.
Mr Nazari said: “The support I have had from the Entrepreneurial Spark and NatWest teams has been invaluable. The team have inspired me to go further with the business and have also helped open doors to range of contacts and mentors.”
Lee Currier, Entrepreneur Development Manager at NatWest, said: “Since joining the programme Lee has shown commitment to the evolving his business and embracing change. He is innovative and has developed a fantastic product with SWOOPOS which has incredible potential.”
