Swiping to Success: MEU Swipe’s Startup Experience
MEU Swipe
MEU Swipe is one of five finalists competing for the chance to become the overall winner at CodeLaunch 7: the national seed accelerator and pitch competition where startups are accelerated toward success!
Learn about MEU Swipe – one of our U.S. Commercial Venture finalists – and how CodeLaunch comes into play by accelerating the business in a unique way.
WHAT IS MEU SWIPE?
MEU Swipe is a freemium mobile contact management app that allows users to digitally send and receive contact details with one touch point that automatically syncs to enterprise CRM systems. MEU Swipe doesn’t replace CRM but integrates into existing systems and works with all phones.
MEU Swipe was conceived based on the principle that business is about people. When networking or meeting new clients, people get stacks of business cards, and these often get misplaced. The data also changes due to people changing their phone numbers, emails, addresses, jobs and companies over time.
MEU SWIPE’S HISTORY & MILESTONES
The idea of MEU Swipe was founded while Michael Bates – Founder and CEO of MEU Swipe – was based in Shanghai with frequent travel throughout Asia Pacific, EMEA, and North America and amassed thousands of business cards. Managing all these contacts was increasingly difficult as clients changed jobs or moved and phone numbers became disconnected or emails bounced. It became very evident if I could keep business and personal contact details up-to-date automatically it would increase company revenue, employee productivity and allow leadership to make better informed decisions.
After moving to Frisco, TX from Los Angeles, CA and experiencing the cryptocurrency boom, Rama Raju – Co-founder and COO of MEU Swipe – started a consulting company called Give Or Die to help people donate cryptocurrencies to IRS tax-exempt 501(c)(3) foundations, non-profits, and public charities. He later met Michael Bates while networking at 1MillionCups in Frisco and together co-founded MEU Swipe.
At one point, Bates had to travel to Hong Kong for a client meeting regarding a luxury residential high rise project, Little Tai Hang in Causeway Bay, and then quickly to another city. Since he would be in both cities for a few days, he clustered the trip to hold meetings with other architects and property developers. Bates spent two full days finding accurate contact details to reach out to schedule meetings. The MEU Swipe solution could cut this time down to minutes, and not days, to setup meetings and coordinate logistics.
The first competition was pitched as a hybrid SaaS product in Shanghai with the Chicago China Club hosted by 10 Corso Como, MEU Swipe won first place in two categories: Best Concept and Best Pitch.
MEU Swipe is intended to be a multi-platform mobile application to work with any smartphone. Building out the first version of the software, Michael learned to code a few features with Ionic, and this helped MEU Swipe to inspire other talented developers and designers to first build with React Native before moving into native app development. Currently, MEU Swipe is writing the application in Swift for iOS and plans to get Android developed, so both platforms can be launched simultaneously and be able to be used cross-platform.
THE MISSION
Founder and CEO of MEU Swipe, Michael Bates, says, “People do business with people, and not companies. MEU Swipe is a product that helps people to connect quickly and build networks to last.”
From that understanding, the co-founders decided that MEU Swipe’s mission is to empower people to easily connect and build a network that lasts.
THE TEAM
MICHAEL BATES
Michael is the founder and CEO of MEU Swipe and is a tech entrepreneur who works with C-Suite executives to optimize small and large size enterprises to achieve operational efficiencies and growth targets. Bates has 17 years of management experience in six countries working with – and co-founding – early stage startups, as well as multibillion-dollar brands. He has additionally worked on two of the tallest buildings in the world, Shanghai Tower ( 上海中心大厦 ) and Chow Tai Fook Finance Centre ( 广州周大福中心 ). Bates holds a BS in Marketing from Metropolitan State University of Denver and holds an MBA from Rutgers Business School.
RAMA RAJU
Rama is the co-founder and COO of MEU Swipe and is an entrepreneur with a passion for technology, sports and philanthropy. Raju has almost two decades of diverse work experience from Y combinator startups to Fortune 100 companies such as IBM, AT&T, and Citigroup. Raju holds a BS in Finance from the Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University and an MBA with a concentration in Entrepreneurship from Pepperdine University’s Graziadio Business School.
MEU SWIPE’S NEXT STEP
MEU Swipe’s startup journey is accelerating at CodeLaunch 7 on July 31 in Frisco, Texas’ Comerica Center! Those looking to support MEU Swipe and other startups, network with local and national entrepreneurs, as well as interact with sponsors and partners should attend the seed accelerator competition and startup conference.
Members of the audience attending the pitch competition will help choose the overall winner of CodeLaunch 7. Support MEU Swipe, and come be a part of their big day!
Tickets are currently on sale, so get your ticket to RSVP for the greatest CodeLaunch event to date!
Congratulations on your startup success thus far, MEU Swipe! We look forward to continually supporting your startup journey.
