PORTLAND, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--VendScreen, a provider of touchscreen payment technology, announced significant momentum in its growth for 2014. Founded in Portland, Ore., in 2011, VendScreen is a turnkey, affordable hardware and software solution that retrofits self-service retail machines to deliver a unique and engaging end-user experience, driving incremental revenue and improving functional efficiencies for vending operators. VendScreen’s touchscreen technology wirelessly connects vending machines to a cloud-based computing platform that enables cashless transactions, and delivers nutrition information, on-screen promotions, and instant help features, including credit codes for refunds. Recent achievements include:
Recapitalizing the company
In January, the company closed on a major financing round. The financing was led by two of the Portland company’s existing investors, 3X5 Special Opportunity Fund and Merrickhanna Ventures. It will be used to deliver innovative new features and to accelerate market share growth for its 3G vending platform technology.
Optimizing the technology
VendScreen continues to add innovative new feature functionality to its scalable cloud-based platform, including contextual on-screen advertising, instant credit code refunds and an operator portal management suite.
Growing the company
Over the last six months, VendScreen has experienced significant growth in all major business categories. The company’s customer base has grown over 250 percent from the same period last year. Sales have increased over 50 percent in the last 90 days alone and over 92 percent of all customers are reordering more devices and adding new locations.
Building strategic alliances
· July: VendScreen partnered with USConnect, a consortium of industry-leading independent food service companies that provide state-of-the-art technology and programs to their corporate food service clients. USConnect affiliates will now receive group rates on VendScreen touchscreen devices. Affiliates are also eligible for management, monitoring and wireless services at fixed monthly prices, decreased cashless processing costs and select device pricing.
· June: VendScreen entered into a marketing alliance with Unified Strategies Group Inc., one of the largest U.S. purchasing cooperatives which services independently owned vending companies. Members can now obtain VendScreen’s touchscreen products and services at group rates. VendScreen and USG will work together to market future services to members such as loyalty offers, couponing, on-screen promotions and contextual advertising.
· June: VendScreen entered into a long-term pilot with several of the largest Pepsi bottlers in the U.S. in order to collect critical sales lift data and other metrics for a broad scale roll-out of a Pepsi bottlers program later this year.
· May: VendScreen added Verizon Wireless as an available cellular carrier for its retrofit 3G devices installed on vending machines across the country. Previously, all VendScreen devices exclusively accessed the Sprint cellular network.
· April: VendScreen announced the successful installation of payment touchscreens on more than 1,000 current machines managed by Evergreen Vending located in Tumwater, Wash.
In March, VendScreen introduced a seasoned executive team who would focus on delivering reliable and innovative products and services to the company’s current and future vending operator customers. The company enlisted David Grano as president and CEO. Grano joined VendScreen from APTUS Financial, a leading provider of ATM management solutions, and brings more than 20 years of successful experience building and running financial and payment technology companies. Also added were John Archer, COO, who has more than 25 years of engineering and operations experience in telecom computing, including RadiSys Corporation and Intel; Chuck Treister, vice president of sales, a vending industry veteran who spent the past 10 years running U.S. Vending Management, LLC.; Matthew Buhler, EVP of business development, a 20-year self-service payments veteran; and Jody Wagner, VP of business operations, who brings nearly 30 years of technology operations experience.
“We are focusing 100 percent of our energy on the success of our customers,” said Grano. “Our business model is built on being an agent in our customers’ growth, now and in the future.”
About VendScreen Inc.
Based in Portland Ore., and a graduate of the Wieden + Kennedy Portland Incubator Experiment, VendScreen, Inc. is the industry’s leading manufacturer of retrofit touchscreen devices for vending machines. VendScreen devices are powered by a proprietary cloud-based computing platform that enables cashless transactions, dynamic product and nutrition information, on-screen promotions, and centralized remote monitoring. For more information, please visi, www.facebook.com/VendScreen, or follow us on Twitter at @VendScreen.
