Today we’d like to introduce you to Christian Zimmerman and Nate Washington.
Christian and Nate, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Christian first came up with the idea right after graduating and figured this could be a tool to help me pay down my credit card debt and student loans. I was working at another startup when I started Qoins and also met my co-founder Nate Washington. After starting, I quit my job and went full-time into Qoins. During those days, I would work gigs and brand promotional jobs to pay the rent. My most creative way I made money (and still do today) is by renting my car out! (no not Turo). I lived so close to our office that I used it as a means of income (instead of driving uber). Right after quitting and we were working on our beta version, I actually got extremely sick and almost had my 3rd open-heart surgery. This was a huge hit as I just quit, started Qoins, and barely had money to pay the bills. This was rock bottom for me. Luckily, after about eight weeks of medical treatment, I was back. My drive was at an all-time high and I really felt like a new person. Anything after that couldn’t be any worse or more stressful.
OFFICIAL LAUNCH
We ended up officially launching in January 2017 via iOS & Android. This was very exciting but with the launch came more problems as well. The payment processor we worked with at the time, ended up notifying us (the day we launched) that they would no longer be able to service our product. This was another major blow. Luckily, we started reaching out to other processors and managed to not only build-in a whole new processor within seven days… We also managed to do this in the fasted time our processor had ever on-boarded a company.
TODAY
We recently finished our first round of funding (just under $1MM), which we’re using to grow our team, focus on customer acquisition. We’ve been happy to have been a part of accelerator programs like Queen City Fintech and Village Capital Pathways program.
Please tell us about Qoins.
Qoins is the prerequisite to the well-known apps Digit and Acorns. Qoins uses your spare-change from everyday transactions and automatically applies it towards your debt. Primarily focused on credit-card debt and student debt, Qoins has already helped pay off over $3.5 million worth of debt. Qoins, available both on iOS and Android app just closed their first round of funding (just under $1 million). Along with the raise they have also brought on the former head of growth for Acorns as a prominent advisor. Additionally, Qoins is doubling down on their mission, as they’ve begun partnering up with a local non-profit to help a families pay off their debts through donations, which we match. We recently helped a family pay off $5k worth of debt!
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I would have saved a little money, so I wasn’t stressed out financially. This was probably my biggest stressor. Also, I think I would have created a better early-stage plan that was written down. Aside from that, I think we’ve done a good job. We’ve learned many lessons along the way but I don’t think they’re things I would have done differently as it’s all a part of the learning process.
Pricing:
- Convenience fee of $1.99 per monthly payment
Contact Info:
- Address: Qoins Technologies Inc. – 79B Poplar St NW Atlanta GA 30303
- Website: www.qoins.io
- Phone: 770-765-2930
- Email: Christian@qoins.io
- Instagram: @qoinsinc
- Facebook: @qoinsinc
- Twitter: @qoinsinc
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