The event listing and ticket purchasing app YPlan was named the winner at last night’s Tech5 Awards for the fastest-growing tech startups in the UK.
The four other tech companies shortlisted for the award were P2P currency exchange platform Transferwise, build-your-own-computer startup Kano, event booking and planning tool Festicket and personalised fashion site Lyst, which saw over $100 billion in sales made through the site last year.
“We’re just really humbled by this,” founder Rytis Vitkauskas told Payment Eye, adding that he believes the “young team” was chosen as the winner for breaking new ground by being the first company to incorporate a payment system directly into an event listing app.
Vitkauskas says that YPlan’s purpose is to help Londoners answer the question “what shall we do tonight?” without having to visit multiple websites. Since its launch two years ago, its popularity has exploded. It now has versions (and offices) in New York and San Francisco, and partners with the iTunes festival in London.
He feels that the company’s success owes partly to the way it has stayed true to its original purpose and values while adapting to the operational changes that come with rapid growth.
“The best entrepreneurs don’t change their vision but they do shape and adapt the way they get there,” he said. “What you learn along the way refines the way you do that!”
YPlan will now proceed to the next stage of the competition, where they will be pitted against the winning companies from five other European tech hubs: France, Spain, Germany, The Netherlands and Sweden. The final will take place in Amsterdam next month.
Whitepapers
Related reading
Emerging Payments Winners 2018 | video
On the 10th of October, the Emerging Payments Association held their annual Emerging Payments Awards at the Hilton on Park Lane, London. ... read more
PPRO at Money 20/20: PSD2 and local payment methods for merchants
Ralf Ohlhausen, Business Development Director, PPRO at Money 20/20 EU, Amsterdam, discusses the rise of local and alternative payment methods and the evolution of PSD2.
London becomes home to world’s first crypto sculpture
The piece encourages onlookers to think about the current crypto hype in a new way.
Louise Beaumont on the Open Future
How can financial services effectively and innovatively leverage consumer data to provide solutions beyond the merely convenient to create something truly revolutionary?
