PayPal is giving digital startups a helping hand by waiving up to $50,000 in payment processing fees for 18 months.
PayPal’s Startup Blueprint Program reduces the costs for startups helping them get up and running quickly, removing the complexity of payment processing, and helping them to expand while maintaining them as payment customers as they successfully go forward.
“Startups weren’t interested in investment from PayPal; what they were after was help with working out how payments work and getting up and running fast,” comments John Lunn, global director of PayPal’s developer network.
The startups need to be under five years old and making less than $3m a year in revenue.
“Startups were going from being an idea to a multimillion pound business within two years, falling under the radar of a normal merchant bank because going from nothing to something very big so quickly is considered very high risk and that’s where PayPal can help,” said Lunn.
PayPal’s waiver of fees is carefully calculated, of course, ceasing at 18 months or $50,000, which equates to about $1.65m in payments, because most startups sink or swim within 18 months.
It is not just money PayPal’s prepared to help with, however. Lunn explains, “We’re also offering startups the kind of ‘white glove’ support large companies like British Airways get, offering them a named, local contact at PayPal who will manage their account and help with their business models, plus access to startup mentors and evangelists.”
PayPal is starting relatively small with a select number of startup incubators in the US, EU and Israel, but is looking to expand into other territories with local language support.
“We’re starting slowly for now, but we’re looking to build it up with the right people in the right places,” Lunn said.
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