Revolutionizing the Payment Industry: Caleb Avery

An experienced leader in the payment industry, Caleb Avery was frequently asked to help software companies to monetize their payments. Unable to find a solution that didn’t require his clients to compromise on technology, user experience, or economics, Caleb decided to build his own solution, which eventually led to the inception of Tilled and a PayFac-as-a-Service.

Caleb attended Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina, and graduated with a B.S. degree in Business Management. While in college, Caleb started his career in the payments industry by co-founding a card processing independent sales organization with a few of his friends. Starting with very traditional credit card customers, including salons, liquor stores, restaurants, and various other brick-and-mortar businesses, later the business expanded into processing for e-commerce businesses and software companies. The organization presently operates in more than 22 states across the country.

While working at his first company, Caleb started consulting for larger software companies processing anywhere from $100 million to over a billion in annual payments volume. He eventually understood that these clients needed a payments expert who could help them negotiate various agreements, develop new pricing models, and maximize their revenue from credit card processing.

Caleb also realized software companies looking to optimize their integrated payment processing solution were looking for two things. The first is an instant digital sign-up experience for their clients, and the second is maximizing the revenue they could earn.

Empowering Clients

Under Caleb’s leadership, Tilled empowers ISVs to monetize the payments flowing through their platforms with PayFac-as-a-Service. Through its latest APIs and SDKs, Tilled’s turnkey system helps software companies to be set up and running within a few weeks, without any upfront costs or additional headcount. Tilled makes it easy for software companies to take full advantage of the benefits of payment facilitation without the headache of regulatory compliance or the liabilities of becoming a fully registered payment facilitator.

Achievements

Since its inception in 2019, Tilled has raised nearly $30 million in capital over three investment rounds. It has also expanded its team from 3 to over 65 employees and signed dozens of customers for its PayFac-as-a-Service product. Caleb states, “I’m also proud that we’ve been named a Best Place to Work in Colorado by several local publications, as well as one of the highest paying companies and most innovative companies.”

He believes the key to his success lies in revolutionizing the payment industry for the better. Caleb feels many companies in the sector operate in darkness and play games with their clients, and unfortunately, they have gotten away with it for quite a long time. However, Tilled not only has a revolutionary product with PayFac-as-a-Service, but it also offers it in a revolutionary way – transparently with honesty and integrity towards all stakeholders.

Suggestions for Younger Self

Caleb states, “Sell it before you build it. One of the most valuable things I did when starting Tilled was to talk to our end customers, even before we had a product to offer them. I wanted to make sure what we were building at Tilled would actually solve their problems – and that they’d be willing to pay for it.”

He feels that many founders and entrepreneurs often think their idea is great, and they go all out and build it without even realizing that they might build something that no one needs or will ever pay for. It is very important to get market validation and find a product that fits the market.

Preparing for the Future

Caleb explains, “There is much to be excited about here at Tilled. We are currently working on expanding our business internationally, and I’d expect us to be operating on multiple continents, offering PayFac-as-a-Service around the world.”

Additionally, Tilled is constantly working on adding even more features and functionalities, which will eventually help the firm achieve its mission to provide customers with the best payments experience possible.

Some Thoughts

Caleb believes that if you want to create something game-changing or ‘the next big thing,’ you just can’t repeat something that has already been done before. You will have to come up with something different.

Although successful still, his first business, was something that others had already done. However, Tilled is functionally different, and Caleb believes that he and his team have found an opportunity that everyone else failed to recognize.

He says, “We are truly differentiated in our market and operating in our own space. It’s an exciting place to be.”