December 2025 Investor Update - Sendd
CONFIDENTIAL: A Big Finish to 2025 at Sendd 🚀
Link to Sendd.market & demo:
https://www.sendd.market/
(Try our V2 demo. Click “Try a Demo” then Demo V2. You can also join the marketplace waitlist on this page. The YES marketplace Demo is the richest demo. Multiple iterations happening on demo’s for different customers so functionality varies demo by demo.)
Explainer video of the interns learning about the Sendd market: here.
Traction since last update:
210+ Sign Ups (since V1 launch)
$86,000+ in fees saved for customers (since V1 launch)
A steady trickle of regular transaction volume on V1 product.
Ships since last update:
Sendd.store: 27+ (All on staging.) (Try staging on https://www.sendd.shop/)
Sendd.market: 10+ (V2 demo live, V3 coming soon.)
Summary
This is officially my final Sendd update for 2025.
There’s a familiar rhythm to this moment. In late December 2024, Sendd V1 entered final testing. Almost exactly a year later, Sendd.store V2 entered final testing this week. At the same time, Sendd.market is moving fast: a V2 demo is live, and V3 is already in progress.
What’s been most exciting is the quality of feedback we’re getting. The loops are short, sharp, and deeply constructive; coming directly from marketplace operators who are waiting to launch on Sendd. That velocity has given me a quiet confidence in what we’re building. Not just that it’s differentiated, but that when Sendd.market launches early next year, it will be one of the strongest V1 marketplace products ever seen.
In the last update, I shared how proud I was of the progress we made this year, and referenced Jeff Bezos’ reflection on the energy required to be distinctive; and why it’s worth paying that price. As the year wraps up, I want to build on that idea. Anxiety comes from not having done enough preparation. Kobe Bryant spoke about this often, and it resonates deeply with me. The harder I work; and the harder we work as a team; the calmer things feel. I find myself needing to sell less, pitch less, and persuade less. With customers, investors, and partners alike, the work increasingly speaks for itself.
We’re watching a path we deliberately chose begin to materialise into something real and valuable. That confidence has changed how we communicate, how efficiently deals close, and how consistently the team operates in a flow state. I’m not sure whether it’s the market responding to that energy, or whether we’ve simply become much better at communicating clearly; but either way, it’s working.
Sendd is on a trajectory I’m genuinely excited about; not in a way that feels speculative or uncertain, but in a way where I deeply understand the destination. That makes it possible to enjoy the journey more and show up fully each day.
To close out 2025, I’ll leave you with the words that have defined this year for me:
Quiet confidence.
Trust the work and the outcomes you know to be true.
Don’t outsource decisions to trends.
Value coherence over spectacle.
Be comfortable making irreversible choices; most doors aren’t actually one-way.
Think in years and decades, not months and quarters.
What We’ve Been Up To (Since August)
This update is overdue; I’ve rewritten it a few times as one exciting development kept overtaking the next.
The short version of the last few months:
I spent significant time in the America’s, meeting with potential stores and potential marketplace operators; our primary target market. Days were spent in back-to-back conversations; evenings were spent iterating rapidly with the team.
After returning to New Zealand, we pushed hard on hiring for the engineering team and went deeper on marketplace design and demos. We now have a V1 demo, V2 demo, and V3 in progress. Tum joined us as a full time, full stack engineer & he’s smashing it.
I then travelled to India, where I met with manufacturers across categories including bedding, soaps, and bottling brands. These conversations gave us deep insight into regional logistics, payments, and marketplace infrastructure. We also identified MP as a state with lots of potential for vertical integration & expansion. Lots of government subsidies, a dry port, the heart of the country with tons of manufacturing capabilities and importantly for Asia, access to political and business leverage with deep family networks.
One insight from India stood out clearly: if manufacturers or brands onboard directly to Sendd; and enable their marketplace settings publicly; any marketplace could instantly discover, add, and resell those products globally. Instant distribution for sellers & a library of products for marketplaces to seed themselves with.
We also listed some products on Amazon India & filled in some RFQ’s for Amazon Basics for the US. Fascinating to see how manual that process still is for them and for listing on Amazon in India how painful it all is. We met with many agencies that purely service listing on Amazon in India as a service due to complexities involved.
This highlights the real problem we’re solving.
Sendd isn’t just a two-sided marketplace. It’s a 3 body problem with 3 key stakeholders & infrastructure being critical underlying ingredient, not as a stakeholder but as a key catalyst needed:
End customers (Buyers)
Sellers / brands / manufacturers
Marketplaces / curators
Payments, logistics, and platform infrastructure being a core capability we need.
Solving for each of these is hard on its own. Solving them together is even harder; but the reward scales with the difficulty and solving this creates a deep long term moat for Sendd.
Marketplace Momentum
26+ marketplaces are now signed up to the Sendd.market waitlist
These represent 11,000+ potential storefronts
Several marketplaces are already referring businesses to us to start using Sendd storefronts & now marketplaces to us today
Our focus over the last few months has been deliberate and disciplined:
Targets
Meet and record conversations with as many potential marketplaces as possible → Achieved and ongoing
Grow the marketplace waitlist → Achieved and ongoing
Capture visceral, visual stories of real pain points → Achieved and ongoing
Be ready to pilot Sendd.store + Sendd.market V1 → Demos ongoing, pilots planned for early 2026
Fundraising Context
Following the August update, we received a number of inbound conversations around fundraising. We’ve had some excellent discussions, with more scheduled early in the new year.
Our position remains simple:
If we find strong terms and genuine strategic alignment, we’ll complete a funding round. If not, we’ll continue bootstrapping. At our current rate of execution, the underlying value of the company is compounding month-to-month regardless.
For investors who would like to connect, the next few weeks are a good window. I’ll be working through December 24, and back online from January 5. Link to view pitch deck below:
The Pitch Deck: Dec 2025 Version
Financials
Sept Burn: $3,000 NZD
October Burn: $3,000 NZD
Nov Burn: $3,500 NZD
Dec Burn: $6,500 NZD
Runway: Unlimited at sub $4,000 NZD burn. Cash reserves are low. However we can sustain the $6,500 current burn using our reserves and additional top up from me for a while if needed.
The Good
Sendd store V2 product. (Try staging on Sendd.shop) is 10x better than V1. The customers we have showed it to so far; are super excited for it.
Tum & Dev as the core engineering team and both full time are doing a great job! With Vlad, Tum, Rajib in Bangkok. We are likely going to move Dev to Bangkok from India post a funding round and get an in person office for the team.
Ben & Kenia on the design side have been smashing it. The pitch deck in recent weeks has been a labour of love for them and it looks beautiful and tells our story clearly!
Cyrus has officially graduated and we have increased his days and times, he’s been pushing hard on content, adding to his equipment stockpile and pulling in Edmund and others to support as well!
Zac joined the team as an Intern up in Auckland, around the same time as Tum and he’s been doing a great job also. Working closely with me on marketplace validation, problem discovery on marketplaces through to problem -> solution -> product fit on the marketplace side.
I presented to a few investment committees and to our community here at The Atom and the feedback has been invaluable in making the story and the pitch better. A special shoutout to James (Blackbird) also for taking time out of his day multiple times in giving incredible feedback on our story and deck. His insights have helped us evolve the deck and the investor memo in a big way also.
We are in a really strong position for 2026. I’m excited to build on our 25 momentum and deliver a impactful solution to thousands of businesses. Also to earn the revenue that comes with that!
The Bad
A key team member has been dealing with significant health problems in their immediate family, coupled with their day job being extra burdensome in the last few months, has severely limited their ability over the last few months. While we are doing our best to support them and not much we can do to help on the health side. It has been difficult as being a small team; it has a direct impact on our output. Us being able to get them on full time post a funding round solves ½ of the problems they face and would significantly speed us up.
Jan/Feb Goals:
Sendd.store: First 100 customers given access.
Sendd.market: V1 Live (1x Pilot access given).
Deep Customer Interviews: 50+ interviews conducted on Sendd.store + Sendd.market.
Social Media: 20,000+ views across channels.
🎯 Primary Ask
Marketplace Intros (US Launch Focus)
As we prepare to scale Sendd’s marketplace ecosystem in the United States, our top priority right now is warm introductions to partners who could benefit from launching curated marketplaces on Sendd.
We’re specifically looking for connections to organizations, communities, and businesses that fit one or more of the following profiles and could move quickly to pilot or launch:
1. Community-Driven Organizations
Examples: Young Enterprise (YES), nonprofits, professional associations, alumni networks, youth entrepreneurship groups
Why: These groups have highly engaged members and existing trust. They’re ideal for launching curated marketplaces because they already aggregate buyers and sellers; meaning quicker onboarding and network effects for Sendd. For example, Young Enterprise (https://youngenterprise.org.nz/) runs entrepreneurship programs across schools and communities; a marketplace here could unlock a commerce layer supporting student-created products, events, and services.
2. Vertical Creator & Passion-Driven Communities
Examples: Craft/maker collectives (e.g., regional makerspaces), board game clubs and cons circuits, niche sports communities (disc golf leagues), gaming clans/leagues
Why: These communities have active creators and dedicated buyers. They’re looking for better monetization channels and curated, brand-aligned marketplaces; Sendd unlocks a commerce layer that fits their culture.
3. Mission-Aligned Nonprofits & Social Impact Networks
Examples: Environmental orgs that work with artisans, social enterprises, youth outreach programs
Why: Many nonprofits support small-scale makers or local tradespeople but lack a dedicated marketplace infrastructure. Sendd can power purpose-driven commerce that amplifies impact while creating predictable revenue share.
4. Business/Professional Networks
Examples: Regional chambers of commerce, industry guilds, startup incubators & accelerators
Why: These organizations aggregate professionals and SMBs who could benefit from vertical-specific commerce ecosystems e.g., an accelerator-branded marketplace for portfolio founders.
As always, thank you for your continued support, trust, and belief in what we’re building.
From The Sendd Team,
Adi, Rajib, Dev, Tum, Cyrus, Edmund, Kenia, Zac, Ben, Vlad, Jackie.
(This email update is now sent via Substack. If you wish to be removed from my update list, shoot me an email back and I’ll remove you from the list!)
<———>
Email intro template:
Subject: Intro: Adiraj Gupta (Sendd); Launching curated marketplaces
Hi {{Name}},
I wanted to introduce you to Adiraj Gupta (cc’d); Founder of Sendd:
👉
https://www.sendd.market/
Sendd helps organizations and communities launch curated, multi-seller marketplaces in minutes. A good example is this demo marketplace built for Young Enterprise (YES):
👉 https://demo.sendd.market/marketplace/yes-marketplace
Adi is now exploring a small number of US-based pilot marketplaces with community-led organizations and thought you / your network could be a strong fit.
I’ll let you both take it from here.
Best,
{{Investor Name}}