The Munich startup wismo has set out to finally enable virtual payments for people under 18. How does this work? Nicolas Jakob, one of the founders of wismo, answers seven questions for us.
1. Who are you and what do you do?
We are wismo, a virtual payment solution for teenagers and young adults that, for the first time, enables NFC payments via smartphone in stores, peer-to-peer, and online payments simultaneously in one app.
At wismo, we are three founders. I, Nicolas, am the company's CEO and have already collaborated with Christian Albrecht (COO) on several smaller projects. Hardik Mehta joined the team early on as CTO thanks to his passion for innovative projects in the banking sector and has been an important part of it ever since.
2. But that's been around for a long time!
There isn't, which is why it's high time for wismo! There is currently no virtual payment solution accessible to young people. Nor is there a solution that offers all three major payment channels (POS, peer-to-peer, online) in one app.
3. What are the three main ingredients for your recipe for success?
- We work together as a team towards a common vision and complement each other perfectly in our skills.
- We implement technical innovations such as virtual prepaid credit cards and biometric verification, while remaining fully compatible with existing interfaces. This makes wismo immediately and independently available across the board.
- From the very beginning, we have heavily involved the opinions of our target customers in the development of the product.
4. Let’s get down to business: How is business going?
So far, very good. We have currently completed our prototype and plan to launch wismo in early 2017. Until then, the most important milestones are beta testing, the integration of our technology partner, and the financing of our company.
5. What does Munich mean to you?
- Since all three founders live in Munich and did so even before founding the company, Munich means a lot to us both personally and professionally. We feel extremely comfortable here and think it's fantastic that the Munich startup scene is growing ever stronger, allowing us, as a startup, to make many exciting contacts.
(Editor's note: wismo was a team from LMU Lab and presented in mid-October at the LReading Entrepreneurs).
6. How will your startup become the next unicorn? Or will we see you soon at Epic Fail Night?
We'll become a unicorn by becoming the number one payment solution for teens and young adults in Europe. Through continuous innovation, we're building the payment platform of the future.
7. Isar or English Garden?
- Both are very cool, but we choose the Isar because it offers so many cool places to swim and have fun.
