Bindo
 | |
| Industry | Technology |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2010 |
| Founder | Brad Lauster, Jason Ngan, JoMing Au |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | Global |
| Products | Bindo- Point of Sale |
| Website | bindopos.com |
Bindo is a retail technology company, headquartered in New York, NY with APAC headquarters in Hong Kong.[1] Its core product is a cloud-based point of sale system that enables online shopping for the end consumer.[2] Bindo's hyperlocal marketplace allows merchants to run their stores and merchandise online and connect them with consumers in their neighborhood.[3][4][5] Bindo creates a real-time product graph that connects brands, consumers, and merchants.[6]
History
Bindo was founded in October 2010, by JoMing Au, Brad Lauster and Jason Ngan.[7] It was initially started by two friends, Ngan and Au, who both sold electronics on eCommerce websites during their college days. After graduation, Au worked in aerospace and Ngan in financial engineering.[8] After a while, on the side, they started to work on Bindo with the initial intention of trying to index available local inventory online.[9] Ngan then met Lauster who shared a vision that shopping online at local stores shouldn’t be so difficult. They then decided to work together to create a marketplace to strengthen local economies by indexing the products and making it accessible through the local stores.
It was initially launched in Manhattan.[10] The idea to start a hyperlocal marketplace got the attention of social media expert Gary Vaynerchuk, who then went on to become one of Bindo’s investors. Bindo had gained 180,000 customers and processed over $500 million in sales.[3] in May 2014, Bindo raised seed funding in the amount of $1.8 MM majorly led by Vaynerchuk, Singapore based East Ventures and New York based Metamorphic Ventures, along with angel investors.[11][12]
Technology
Bindo POS
Bindo has a point of sale system (POS) that allows merchants to add and manage their inventory in the cloud, enabling in-store purchases. Its platform provides retail store owners with inventory management tools and generates on-demand real-time reports and analytics.[8]
Bindo Marketplace
The Bindo Marketplace brings stores online, connecting merchants directly with local buyers and enabling them to make same-day delivery purchases from the Bindo iPhone app.[13] The in-store and e-commerce transactions are all synchronized in real-time with Bindo POS to manage and check online inventory.
Payments
Bindo POS works with processing partners to provide seamless integration with its Point of Sale solution.[10] It is one of the first iPad POS players to also roll out EMV chip + pin and EMV chip + signature solutions.[14] In September 2014, Bindo announced support for Apple Pay and NFC contactless payments.[15]
Reception
After its beta launch in Manhattan, the application grabbed the attention of 180,000 customers.[2][3] According to critics, the application is similar to other POS application launched in the recent past.[2] Ngan later clarified that Bindo POS differentiates from its other iPad POS competitors, by focusing more on building a hyperlocal marketplace and building an online-to-offline network.[16]
References
- ^ Josh Horwitz (May 29, 2014). "Fresh off its latest funding round, point-of-sales startup Bindo opens office in Singapore". Retrieved 28 October 2014.
- ^ a b c Catherine Shu (May 28, 2014). "Bindo Raises $1.8M To Help Small Brick-And-Mortar Stores Go Online". Techcrunch. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
- ^ a b c Michelle Yuan (June 9, 2014). "New York Startup Bindo Raises Funds To Expand in Asia". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
- ^ Vanessa Tan (May 8, 2014). "The glory, the money, and the Startup Arena winner: Bindo". Retrieved 29 October 2014.
- ^ "Fresh off its latest funding round, point-of-sales startup Bindo opens office in Singapore". Yahoo Singapore. May 29, 2014. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
- ^ "以香港为基地 賓多 准备与亚马逊竞争". 頭條日報 (Headline Daily). June 2, 2014.
- ^ "Bindo gets $1.8M for its offline-online POS system for small retailers". Start Up Beat. May 28, 2014. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
- ^ a b Josh Horwitz (May 8, 2014). "This Hong Kong startup solves online retail nightmares with a simple iPad app". Retrieved 28 October 2014.
- ^ "Bindo Reduces Credit Card Fraud With Rollout Of EMV Chip Reader". August 7, 2014. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
- ^ a b Garg, Nikhil (May 29, 2014). "Bindo Raises $1.8M In Seed Funding". Tropical Post. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
- ^ "Startup Arena winner Bindo nabs $1.8M in seed funding". May 29, 2014. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
- ^ "NY based Bindo raises USD 1.80 million for Asian expansion". June 9, 2014. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
- ^ "Bindo Expands in Asia: An iPad POS That Helps Small Businesses Compete with Amazon". Retrieved 29 October 2014.
- ^ Leung, Iris (September 1, 2014). "Hong Kong Startups HotelQuickly and Bindo Stay Competitive with Mobile Payment Product Updates". Startups HK. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
- ^ "Why mPOS is No Exception to the Apple Pay Effect". October 28, 2014. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
- ^ Reutzel, Bailey (July 7, 2014). "Bindo Is a Little Bit Mobile POS and a Little Bit Marketplace". Archived from the original on 29 October 2014. Retrieved 29 October 2014.