TruRating scores AU$16.5m in funding to expand global presence

UK-based fintech startup TruRating has secured AU$16.5 million from its Series A funding round, with hopes to use to the funds to further expand its presence globally, including to Australia.

The funding round was led by wealth management specialist and private family investment group Sandaire, taking the total amount raised by TruRating to AU$23.6 million, following a prior seeding fund of AU$7.3 million.

TruRating provides businesses -- small and large, in retail, hospitality, and the service sector -- the opportunity to use their existing payment terminal to collect immediate customer feedback. It works by asking customers one question on the terminal screen that they can rate 0 to 9 on the keypad, before finalising their payment.

TruRating launched in Australia in February in partnership with point-of-payment terminal operator PC-Eftpos, which is responsible for locally hosting the technology via an API that links between a merchant's POS system and Eftpos machine.

TruRating also partnered with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia to bring its platform live on Albert Eftpos terminals in April.

According to the company, it has gained over 250,000 ratings since from businesses across most states in Australia.

TruRating founder and CEO Georgina Nelson said the funds will further enable the company to expand its global presence into countries such as North America, as well as grow its payment partnerships in the coming months with international sports apparel retailers and major supermarket chains in Australia and the UK.

"These will allow us to open up TruRating to even more merchants and as a result some very big household names will be working with us by the end of the year, adding millions more ratings every day," she said.

"We'll also be further developing our product and broadening the company's offering to bring our technology to businesses and consumers all over the world."

Additionally, the company said it plans to take on the likes of TripAdvisor and Yelp! by launching an online ratings engine to give users access to all rating information and allow them to compare ratings to make more informed choices about where to shop and eat.