#mystartupstory

SMSPortal is a bulk SMS service provider

Then students, Charles Stretch and James Pearce started the business in 2002.

From the back of a garage, with R20,000.

And no business experience

But time showed them they were onto something, and they went from sending SMSes from nightclubs to their revelers, to local Port Elizabeth SMEs.

The pair found their feet, invested all their revenue into developing their business, creating an innovative product and service.

They didn’t draw a salary for two years.

The tipping point came, a large South African retailer became a client.

“We evolved the system to the point that is was robust enough to handle the needs of a large corporate client.”

James Pearce

Their timing was perfect, corporates were looking for better and more measureable ROI for their marketing spend, SMS was and is a great medium for consumer communication.

Today SMSPortal:• Sends 180 million SMSes a month• Has a R400 million turnover• Has 15% of its income from international markets• Has access to 750 mobile networks worldwide• Serves over 10,000 clients