TrustMe — a startup that helps people find reliable partners and clients

We met with Chingis Dauletbayev, the founder and CEO of the TrustMe startup. He shared how the idea for the startup came about, how initial investments were attracted, and discussed plans for scaling and development in the coming year.

On the founding of the startup

I previously engaged in entrepreneurial activities. I worked in government service and in international companies. Before founding the startup, I developed a successful business in the field of marketing and production. Producing TV shows accounted for 70% of our activities. While working in the media sector, I encountered the problem of unscrupulous companies and suppliers. This is how the idea for creating the TrustMe startup came about, which would help people find reliable partners and clients.

In 2021, we went through the Sber500 Bootcamp. During the program, we decided to pause all our current businesses and focus exclusively on TrustMe.

At the beginning of development, the project was called the “TrustMe Review and Recommendation Platform.” From there, we moved on to building a full-fledged technological ecosystem with a wide range of features. We launched products for restaurants called TrustBusiness and TrustPlaces, where users could create QR menus and place pre-orders. They were in demand but did not generate significant revenue. We realized that scaling them globally would be difficult. At that moment, TrustContract began attracting many clients. Therefore, we focused our efforts on it.

TrustContract is a service for online contract signing via SMS signature and the creation of smart contracts.

About the team

In our previous company, we had three departments:

— production, which included camera operators, designers, mobile videographers, and animators

— marketing

— the development team.

Deciding to focus on TrustMe, we transferred the team members to the new startup. Therefore, we did not face any staffing issues.

Target audience

Our target audience is businesses. Everyone who signs contracts. The niche is large, which makes us interesting to investors. To become a unicorn, we need only 85,400 monthly paying customers. This is the number of companies we can cover solely within Kazakhstan without expanding beyond the country’s borders.

Accelerators

We participated in the Sber500 Bootcamp jointly with Global500. Thanks to this program, we learned what metrics are, how to attract investments, and what to pay attention to. It was here that we realized that developing a startup requires full dedication; it is not possible to run other businesses simultaneously.

We also participated in the pre-acceleration and acceleration programs at Astana Hub. This gave us an understanding of the need to scale and which markets to enter.

Thanks to participation in the Silkway Accelerator by Astana Hub and Google for Startups, we digitized our business. We established all key metrics that we monitor daily.

In each accelerator, we were highlighted and named the best, which boosts our confidence and helps us continue working hard.

Challenges

Startups involve many nuances, making them much harder to build than traditional businesses.

In the startup industry, it is necessary to attract investors, grow quickly, and not let clients down. If in my old business I had 15 clients for a year, now I have 400,000. It is important to analyze them: to understand what they want and what their requests are.

There were many difficulties: constant lack of funds, the burden of responsibility towards employees, investors, and clients. My professional experience helped me in working on the startup: for about 15 years, I worked in managerial positions and studied management at KazNU (KBTU) and in England.

It is difficult to find staff, especially technical specialists. We need to expand the team, so we spend a lot of money on this process.

Achievements

We have several achievements:

1. We moved from MVP to the Scale stage.
2. We created a strong and motivated team that is committed to shared values and goals.
3. We retained our clients. We have a high NPS. Users are satisfied and often send positive reviews.
4. We learned how to effectively secure funding. In October 2021, we attracted our first investment of $100,000. After that, in May and December 2022, we attracted another $100,000 each time. Additionally, I personally invested $200,000 into the startup’s development. Most recently, we opened a round for $500,000, of which one-third has already been closed.
5. There is high demand for TrustMe in foreign markets.

Future plans

Our main task is to explore new markets. We also plan to attract new investments.

We plan to develop new products that will complement TrustMe, creating a technological ecosystem.

By the end of 2024, we plan to reach a startup valuation of $100,000,000.