Paystone has acquired Vancouver-based NiceJob in its fifth acquisition to date, bolstering its customer engagement services and electronic payment processing solutions for businesses.
Tarique Al-Ansari, the founder and CEO of London, Ontario-based Paystone, said the deal brings his company one step closer to achieving its goal of creating “a unified platform that drives massive customer growth for service businesses.”
“Businesses that invest in creating great customer experiences grow faster and profit more than those that don’t.”
The deal marks Paystone’s first acquisition since it secured close to $100 million CAD this year. The financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Paystone develops payment processing solutions for businesses that also help brands engage customers. The startup officially brought its payments and customer engagement software to market in the third quarter of 2020, though the company has been around since 2008 under the name Zomaron.
As Zomaron, the company developed payment processing solutions for North American businesses and registered charities. Its software and hardware products allowed merchants to accept debit, credit, and e-commerce transactions.
In late 2019, Paystone acquired Montreal-based software startup DataCandy and rebranded. The acquisition of DataCandy was a pivotal moment for Paystone, which obtained DataCandy’s gift card and loyalty platform and increased its customer base by fivefold. Paystone now counts amounts its customers Irving Oil, The Source, Global Pet Foods, and Kernels Popcorn, among other major brands.
Paystone’s other acquisitions include Alberta-based POS West, Ontario-based Swift Payments, and the merchant portfolio of British Columbia-based NxGen Canada.
“Winning new customers is the biggest challenge most businesses have,” said Al-Ansari. “We’re solving this problem by giving companies the insights and tools they need to turn their customers into vocal advocates.”
RELATED: Paystone secures $69 million as company chases acquisitive growth strategy
Paystone claims its acquisition of NiceJob gives the company new products and technologies, and adds 30,000 small and medium-sized business customers to its portfolio that process over $10 billion in bankcard volume, collectively. NiceJob specializes in what it calls ‘reputation marketing.’ The company’s tech products help businesses market and convert sale leads, and NiceJob has been highlighted as an emerging startup in British Columbia.
NiceJob claims it bootstrapped its way to annual recurring revenue of $3 million, between 2018 and 2020. Paystone noted the company grew its year-over-year revenue by 150 percent, though did not disclose the dollar amount for 2021.
“Businesses that invest in creating great customer experiences grow faster and profit more than those that don’t,” said NiceJob’s founder and CEO, Lars Kristensen. “Our platform makes it easy for companies to know how to provide better experiences to their customers, and then motivate their happy customers to share their experiences with others. This creates rapid customer growth at a fraction of the cost of traditional paid marketing channels. And perhaps most importantly, it improves the lives of their customers.”
As part of the acquisition, Kristensen is becoming Paystone’s chief product officer and will be leading the combined product and technology team.
The deal also gives Paystone a British Columbia presence, something Al-Ansari teased when speaking with BetaKit earlier this year about Paystone’s financing and next acquisition. NiceJob’s office gives Paystone a notable presence in London, Vancouver, and Montréal, which Paystone obtained through its DataCandy deal.
Paystone’s team currently sits at more than 150 people with the company looking to bring on 50 more by the end of this year.
