Financial technology startup SwipeSum, which provides software-focused payments consulting services for businesses, has relocated its office as it pursues rapid growth.
SwipeSum has relocated from Laclede’s Landing to Clayton in a move that significantly expands its footprint to accommodate a growing workforce. The company last month moved into its new office at 212 S. Central Ave., CEO Michael Seaman said.
The new office, nearly 6,000 square feet in size, is being subleased from Love Funding Corp. SwipeSum previously occupied 3,200 square feet at its former office at 714 N. Second St., owned by an entity, Cast Iron LLC, tied to Victor Mattison.
Seaman said the new office can comfortably fit at least 30 employees. SwipeSum currently has 20 employees, up from seven a year ago. It is actively hiring to ultimately reach 61 employees, Seaman said.
SwipeSum’s relocation to Clayton marks the first time it has operated locally outside the city of St. Louis. After relocating to St. Louis in 2018 from Los Angeles, SwipeSum initially operated in a two-person office at a downtown co-working facility before establishing its headquarters at Laclede’s Landing. As its lease at Laclede’s Landing wound down, Seaman said SwipeSum had discussions with its employees about where they wanted the company’s new office to be located.
“We have several employees who moved to St. Louis to work for SwipeSum, along with native St. Louisans, and value where they want to live and work,” Seaman said. “We pinpointed a few areas around Forest Park and chose Clayton.”
The financial technology startup is one of several companies in the region to relocate from the city of St. Louis since the start of 2021. Last year, Bank of America moved its wealth management operation from downtown to Clayton, and alcohol distiller Luxco relocated its corporate office from downtown to Town and Country. Additionally, environmental firm Environmental Operations in January relocated from the city of St. Louis to Clayton.
For SwipeSum, which Seaman co-founded with his brother and Chief Operating Officer Stephen Seaman, its current growth trajectory comes after it initially experienced a drop in revenue at the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. Seaman said the company, which describes itself as an “outsourced chief payments officer” and offers a range of payments technology and services, was impacted as some of its clients shut down operations amid the pandemic.
Seaman said SwipeSum used its experience during the pandemic to hone its niche, completing a data analysis to “find a target market and hit it over and over again.” He said the company has placed a focus on providing its technology services to multi-unit and franchise retailers and e-commerce businesses.
“We find that people with a little more complicated set up and much larger volumes are the ones who really need our help and services,” Seaman said. “When you’re dealing with five locations, 50 locations or 500 locations, often it’s not a smooth and perfect system throughout that management can look and say ‘this is efficient and we’ve reduced the most costs that we can with this setup."
SwipeSum had revenue of $2 million in 2021, Seaman said.
