Cents · B2B · software for laundromats
Sell your own payment hardware at a profit, with software and payments attached
~$140M a month in payments; 200-250K devices installed; 99% customer retention
Workedupsell-expansionpricingpositioning-niche
What they did
Built as an all-in-one from the start: POS software first (easier to iterate, deploy, hire for, cheaper), then custom on-machine hardware (own enclosure, EMV modules, screen), not a generic Android tablet. Hardware is sold as a one-time, good-margin product with standalone value to the operator, and every device carries SaaS and payments, turning a one-time hit into long-tail recurring revenue. Focus on net dollar retention (more products per operator) over location count.
What happened
~$140M/month payment volume, 200-250K devices installed, 99% customer retention, NDR in the 115-130% band.
- Stage
- growth
“Big push of revenue on hardware, but every hardware device that goes out there has SaaS and payments attached to it. So, you have this hit of revenue, and then the longer tail SaaS and payments uh, you know, revenue line flows from there.”
“Like we custom-built that device that's on that machine, from the enclosure to the EMV modules to the screen to everything to have standalone value to the operator beyond just, "Here's an Android tablet that comes with a point of sale."”
“So, we started with the point of sale, because software easier than hardware.”
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- Cents: Walk into laundromats and call them, pitching a no-labor delivery add-on firstGrew to about 80 stores and ~$700K revenue in 2021
- Cents: Buy a hardware company when building your own hardware gets too hardRevenue went from $6M to $36M the year of the deal
- Cents: Raise at a price investors can 4-6x, and turn down higher offersRaised $140M at 10-20x revenue while profitable; guest says exit options stay open
- Cents: Set aside $30M of a funding round to buy shares from employees$30M tender inside a $140M round; employee retention 98%
- Cents: Aim for $1M of revenue per employee and keep the team small~$750K revenue per employee, 20%+ EBITDA margin, 98% employee retention