When Martin Macmillan ran a successful music app a few years ago, he didn’t feel successful in the monetary sense. Held back by the slow access to his hard-earned money, the entrepreneur with a background in banking knew there should be a faster way to collect cash.
In 2014, he launched Pollen VC in London. The company’s currently expanding as fast as the cash flow it generates: to the U.S., the Netherlands, and Finland. Red Herring recently nominated it as a finalist for its Top 100 Europe Award.
“The app market is an extremely fast-evolving world,” says Remco Smit, Pollen’s head of Europe, the Middle East, and Africa business development. “Waiting a month or two for your money is simply outdated. As you get ranked in the app stores on a daily basis, you can quickly lose momentum, seeing your downloads crash as fast as they were rising a week earlier.”
Pollen VC applies what they call “velocity capital.” The app developers give Pollen VC access to their iTunes and Google Play account, so they attain the money directly. Developers can then recycle this revenue back into funding user acquisition campaigns, so they sustain the benefits and keep up to speed with the rest.
But their service doesn’t end just there.
“We listen to feedback carefully and generate new ideas from there,” says the WeWork Weteringschans member. “We noticed there was a need beyond creating a more optimized cash flow. This resulted in our 360 program, which provides free expertise to help developers grow faster.”
Focusing mainly on app developers, which is where Smit started from himself, he knows how they tend to zoom in too much on the creative side of business.
“Their main marketing strategy often consists of getting a possible feature on the App Store,” he explains. “I made that exact same mistake before. But what happens 10 days after? The market is so fast and saturated, it can cut you off before you know it. Timing is so very important and we advise them to think about their business on a wider scope, creating a more solid strategy for both their general business as well as their cash flow.”
The biggest challenge for Smit and his team is to convince these companies that by shifting their aim, they could start seeing results quickly.
“What makes it so interesting is the way we talk to a lot of different types of app developers,” says Smit. “Thinking alongside with them—brainstorming about different approaches—generates an exhilarating vibe. The fact that these companies trust us enough to open up their shop is probably the most rewarding part of my job.”
The name Pollen refers to the way bees pollinate flowers, creating widespread growth—which is precisely Smit and the rest of the team’s mission.
“I would like to get rid of every possible delay in payment out there,” Smit says, “enabling companies to grow faster and more efficiently.”
Photos: Iris Duvekot