June 2025 Investor Update - Sendd
CONFIDENTIAL: $49,000+ Saved in fees!! First Internet $ made! Sendd June Investor Update 2025 ⚡️
Traction since last update:
170+ Sign Ups.
$49,000 in fees saved for customers.
First internet $ made.
First team in-person.
Ships since launch: 24 Releases (43 bug fixes, upgrades and improvements)
Building Sendd V2 (Sendd.store) (V1 Sendd.me has had its last update most likely)
Summary:
We are growing, we are gaining momentum and our value prop is getting more clear. Sendd started with a simple idea. The idea being anyone should be able to create an online storefront in seconds. Start selling products and services without high monthly subscription fees, crazy platform fees or the need to hire developers and/or buy guides/themes to get started. This idea came about because Etsy sellers who were looking for an alternative solution, started using our invoice tool as a way to sell products and manually do the work to fulfill those items. This led to creating the v1.0 of the Sendd product and signing up customers. Example Store: https://www.sendd.me/prelovedtoreloved
Since the last update we have learned our value proposition compared to incumbents is not big enough. While we are faster, cheaper and have a better user experience our product is marginally better than competitors, for a fair few key use cases, the current version may actually be worse. This results in sales requiring a conversation and trust building to be done prior to a sign up. (It also doesn’t help that we currently do not have much content on the internet about us, or guides and reviews that help us build trust naturally.) However, even with our limitations, 80%+ of our customers are coming via a referral currently. This is a strong signal, as those that try it, get it and then they refer people to us.
While having a high referral rate may be good enough for most businesses, it is not good enough for us. We want to be magnitudes better in every way. We want to create a new category/industry. Currently when people think of E-commerce they think of Shopify. We have always wanted this to be the case, not to be the next Shopify but the first Sendd. This search for being the best has taken us into some interesting conversations and pathways with customers. Over the last few months the thinking has significantly evolved and data points have been consolidated to us having a strong belief that we can create an entirely new category and be the best in that space.
Introducing Sendd Marketplaces, a way for anyone to create a Marketplace. Marketplaces are notoriously expensive. Quotes we have received and many of our customers have received range in the $150-200,000 mark for the software development as a starting point to create a basic marketplace. While E-commerce stores can be expensive (as high as $10,000+) the cost of a marketplace doesn’t start below $100,000. This cost is coupled with massive complexity and a terrible user experience. In the last few months we have learnt how complex E-commerce truly is when you factor in all the various elements that go into it. (While I strongly believe AI will eventually make this easier. For now Shopify has done the best job of democratizing it and almost making it a commodity. Though the real cost with all the add-ons and developers required to have a good store is still crazy high.)
Marketplaces are an entirely different beast. It’s an entirely different abstraction away from traditional E-commerce. Every true marketplace that currently exists has a unique way of handling customers, sellers, categorization and management. On the other hand every E-commerce store including Shopify stores have a different way of handling categories, classifications and how they handle customers, messaging etc. This results in platforms like Shopify creating their own marketplace (called Shop) but not being able to enable anyone else to have their own marketplaces. Meanwhile, Etsy, Trade me and others even if they wanted to give others the ability to have their own marketplace, wouldn’t be able to. Due to them self cannibalizing their own business if they do so, and their technology is designed to be handled and maintained by a large internal team. Not a small external 1 or 2 people marketplace coordinator/team.
Given the validation we have already done in New Zealand & the daily conversations we are having in the US. We have strong conviction on both being able to create a category in this space and drive large amounts of transaction volumes through Sendd marketplaces at scale. Imagine every influencer, community, business leader having their own marketplace. A perfect proof point for this is Revolve, (https://www.revolve.com/content/my-ambassadors). Revolve is allowing influencers to have their own stores on the Revolve website. Now imagine these influencers having their own marketplaces, where they can showcase all products across brands/stores they love not just individually by a company like revolve is doing.
We are having deeper conversations with serious lead investors from NZ/US currently and while we want to be live with Sendd Marketplaces V1 before we consider doing a round. If you are interested in building a long term relationship with us, now is the time to start having early conversations.
Financials:
Monthly Burn (Feb - May (Averaged)): $4500 NZD
June Estimated: $4000 NZD
We are also waiting to hear back on a potential $100,000 Grant Application.
(This would enable us to have 2 additional full time developers to speed up our delivery and sustain a higher burn for a 12 month period.)
Runway Unlimited below $4000 NZD Burn.
The Good:
Product got some beautiful updates!! https://www.sendd.me/adi & https://www.sendd.me/
(Sign up or sign in to take a look around!)
Team is showing strong signs of a great early culture!! (Special shoutout to Rajib (Engineering), Ivan (Product), Ben (Design), Vlad (QA & Hiring).
Also interviewed a few amazing developers so hopefully we expand the team soon with full time hires.
Customer interviews and sessions have been rewarding, insightful and helpful in guiding us towards the marketplace pathway.
First in person was incredible! Spent a week with the team in Bangkok!
The Bad:
V1 Sendd.me won’t scale. Built on the wrong stack, was predominantly built for the invoice software which morphed into V1 Sendd. We are rebuilding now on a scalable stack now.
Finding & retaining incredible marketing team members has been insanely hard. (Especially with no resources or incentives for this role other than early stage equity). We have an awesome group of Social Media Interns who I have a high belief and trust in, but currently life is getting in the way for them and we need guidance for them. My skills here are lacking for what they need.
June/July Goals:
Build Strong US Conviction Data Points (Marketplaces):
Release V2 Sendd Store:
Hire Full Time Dev:
Marketplace V1 Prototype:
Release Sendd Pay:
Release Shipping V1:
Find a Social Media expert to support team:
Asks:
Primary: Connections to marketplaces, or people interested in creating one in the US.
Secondary: Connections to any investors we should be keeping in the loop on progress.
From The Sendd Team,
Adi, Rajib, Ivan, Ben, Vlad, Soonsung, Aty, Zoe, Esme, Jacob, Keez
(This email is personally sent from me to you. If you wish to be removed from my update list, shoot me an email back and I’ll remove you from the list!)