We caught up with Sina Yamani, CEO & Founder of Online Ordering Platform, Yoello to talk all things from bringing the hospitality industry into the digital age to European expansion in 2021…
Tell us about Yoello
Yoello is a fintech start-up based in Cardiff. We’re disrupting the payments market by utilising open banking technology to bring customers and merchants closer together and ultimately make transactions cheaper, quicker and more convenient for everyone.
Earlier this year we launched our mobile ordering web-app to help bring the hospitality industry into the digital age. This product has rapidly gone from being nice-to-have hospitality tech, to a necessity as businesses are faced with the operational challenges of running safely with social distancing and at a reduced capacity.
How did you come up with the idea for the company?
My background is in payments and technology. It became clear to me as a customer that the hospitality industry needed to modernise and take advantage of technology.
The potential for improving the customer and merchant experience through technology is huge, as well as making the ordering process much more convenient and cheaper for vendors. In fact, we’ve calculated that thanks to our tech which cuts out middlemen, we can save the industry £8bn each year.
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How has the need for Yoello evolved during the pandemic?
The need has grown hugely. Globally, businesses have been forced to stop and rethink how they operate. Faced with an ‘adapt or die’ situation, COVID has accelerated a change that’s been in the pipeline for a while. More businesses are turning to us to meet the need for contactless ordering and cashless payment.
Two thirds of consumers say they’re open to cashless methods and 75% say they’ll now make choices out of home based on how safe they feel. Savvy operators have been rethinking the role of tech and have created a new normal which elevates the customer experience – and opens up more profit potential for their business. This is where we’ve been supporting.
What can we hope to see from Yoello in the future?
We’re rapidly growing the team and have plenty of plans for both the immediate future and longer-term – we’ve grown from 8 to 40 people in 2020 alone.
Our platform is continuing to grow across several industries and will be expanding with our European partners over 2021.
To find out more visit: https://www.yoello.com
