The Journal, October 2014
Three prolific North East entrepreneurs have joined forces to launch a new app which promises to take the online voucher space by storm.
VouchShare is the work of Gary Hunter, founder of Lease Cars Direct; Sam Morton, co-founder of Twenty First Century Media and Screach; and Darren Williams, co-founder of Harland Corporation, among other ventures.
The three seasoned entrepreneurs spotted a gap in the market to connect online shoppers directly with the swathes of voucher codes that litter many disparate websites.
Their technology automatically populates checkout pages with relevant codes, eliminating the frustrating searches for out-of-date vouchers that online shoppers currently have to endure.
Since coming together in March the VouchShare team have quickly secured undisclosed proof of concept funding from Northstar Ventures.
After just six months’ development via Newcastle’s Hedgehog Labs the smartphone app and browser extension technology launches today for users to download.
Sam Morton explained: “Coming out of recession, consumers are very price-conscious, and they’re looking for the best deals. With VouchShare we’re not trying to change the world’s behaviour – we’re just building and improving on a process that is already there.
“It’s not a techy app or an early adoption app – it’s a service for the mainstream. We’ve surrounded ourselves with our future users and allowed them to lead the direction.
“The market research we’ve done has shown VouchShare is a no-brainer. It saves the user time and money, which makes it a really easy sell.”
The experienced team have not only attracted the support of Northstar Ventures, but has also amassed an eager audience of 100,000 through its Facebook channels.
Mr Williams added: “A lot of people can’t believe the service doesn’t already exist, which I think can be the hallmark of a really good idea.
“My ethos, which is very much shared within the team, is that starting a business is 10% about the idea and 90% about the marketing.”
Using Facebook and other social media, via established moneysaving personalities, the VouchShare team have built a number of channels through which they have whetted appetites for the app.
Mr Morton added: “This market is so fast and we’re unusual in the extent of collective experience we have behind the project. Many startups are first-timers, but all three of us in this team have bought and sold businesses, made mistakes, raised money and been through the worst recession in living memory.”
Through affiliate networks VouchShare has so far secured over 1,500 participant websites including the likes of Amazon and Tesco.
The team’s ambition is to grow VouchShare’s reach across desktop, mobile and tablet users.
Mr Hunter added: “The key to VouchShare is its simplicity. We alert users to available voucher codes as they browse websites. If the vouchers aren’t there, we don’t interfere with their browsing experience at all. We’re just there when you need us.”
To download the app or find out more, visit the VouchShare websitehttp://www.vouchshare.com/?tk=thejournal