A bumpy start: from event planning to business reality

"I started by renting bars and furniture for events," Oliver recalls with a smile. "The model looked perfect on paper – book events early in the year, ride the payment wave through winter. But managing five or six events every weekend quickly taught me the difference between a good idea and a sustainable business."

After moving to London and launching a healthy snack subscription service that raised £500K, Oliver learned another valuable lesson about scalability. "We had the funding, but the unit economics just weren't there," he explains. "I learned more in three years of failure than in six years of success. That's not just a catchphrase – it's the reality of building businesses."

Learning from failure: the crucial lessons behind yetipay’s rise

The turning point came through an unexpected detour: mentoring startups in the Balkans through a Swiss government programme. "What was meant to be a few weeks turned into a year," Oliver shares. "Helping other entrepreneurs navigate their challenges gave me a new perspective on my own experiences."

By 2017, Oliver had conceived TableYeti (now yetipay), a solution for payments at the table in restaurants. The launch was particularly meaningful, coinciding with his grandfather's birthday – fitting, given his grandparents' background in running pubs and restaurants. With an initial MVP built for £5,000 in exchange for 5% equity, the company was ready to take on the market.

The pivot that worked: how yetipay found its niche in payments

Then came 2020. While many hospitality businesses struggled during the pandemic, Oliver saw an opportunity. "The UK market showed a strong preference for physical payment devices over QR codes," he notes. "We launched Tap to Tip, focusing on streamlining the tipping process in bars and restaurants."

The breakthrough moment came in 2022 with Brewdog. A trial in their Dublin location saw monthly tips increase from €1,000 to €5,000 using yetipay's automatic tip-splitting feature in partnership with TiPJAR. This success led to a UK-wide rollout across 60-70 locations.

But the real scaling opportunity emerged through a partnership with Adyen in 2023. "With Brewdog's £100 million in volume, we needed a payment solution that could handle broader use cases," Oliver explains. "The Adyen partnership transformed us from a payment solution into a platform player."

Scaling smart: how yetipay is expanding across Europe and beyond

Today, yetipay is expanding across Europe with a characteristically innovative approach. Rather than building traditional infrastructure, they're using targeted Google Ads to test market viability. "We discovered PPC in Greece was more cost-effective than in the UK," Oliver reveals. "It's about finding these efficiency pockets that others might miss."

Looking ahead, Oliver's vision extends beyond payments. "We're exploring expense cards, bank accounts, and local IBANs," he shares. "But we're staying true to our principles: expand where there's traction, stay lean, and keep solving real problems."

In a sector often dominated by technical founders, Oliver's journey shows that sometimes the best fintech innovations come from understanding the human side of payments. Through careful market observation, strategic pivots, and a willingness to learn from setbacks, yetipay is proving that making the mundane magical in payments isn't just about technology – it's about timing, tenacity, and a deep understanding of what businesses really need.

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