A pair of Leicester fintech founders are celebrating five years of their startup.
tuck, which went through the second Leicester Startups Accelerator in 2021, was founded by Neel Thakrar and Dhruvesh Ranpura.
Co-founder Neel has been reflecting on the past five years, from its humble beginnings as an idea on a piece of paper, to guerilla marketing tactics, to visiting a temple pre-launch.
The company has now seen 100,000 customers and partnered with some of the UK’s biggest retailers.
“We had ideation sessions that went nowhere. Pivots that felt like failure at the time and turned out to be the best decisions we ever made. Nights questioning everything. Mornings somehow back at it again. There were milestones we weren’t sure we’d ever reach – and then smashed them.”
The startup has since participated in a number of Accelerator programmes and has most recently been announced to take part in the BAE Accelerator, which is for high-growth Asian-Heritage founders & investors in the UK.
Whilst there has been success, Neel has also reflected on the many challenges including self-doubt, the responsibility to a team and sleepless nights. However the founder has credited his growth personally down to his startup experience.
“To anyone thinking about starting something – do it. To anyone currently in the thick of building – keep going. It’s bloody hard. It’s relentless. It will test every part of you. But it is so, so worth it. Here’s to the next five…”