PODCAST | Local start-up finds international funding partners

In this edition of the Business Day Spotlight, we’re examining the journey of technology startup, Skynamo, as the company expands its local operations moves beyond the borders of SA.

Host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by Sam Clarke, the man behind Skynamo, a platform for field sales representatives.

Listen to the local success story: 

Skynamo says it is the first app to be developed targeting business-to-business retail sales reps. It recently secured $30m (R518m) in funding from US group, Five Elms. The company has over 7,000 users across industries such as food and beverages, building materials and hardware, chemicals and paints, and automotive goods.

The discussion starts with Clarke, an engineer by profession, explaining how the business began and how the team came up with the idea and grew in the first few years.

The company uses a subscription business model, where users pay periodically for continued use of the platform. Clark says they chose this model from the start, and though it has been met with some resistance, he is happy with the decision as it has become standard practice with software companies around the world like Microsoft.

Clarke explains that as part of the Alphawave Group, their running expenses and costs have been taken care of, for a number of years. As the business has started to expand internationally, the need for funding saw the group looking to foreign investors after struggling to raise capital in SA.

Skynamo has a presence in SA, the UK and US.

The discussion also explores Clarke’s professional journey, rationale for growing overseas, the effects of Covid-19 on business and an outlook for the economies in the countries that Skynamo operates in.

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