TechTalks is an initiative taken by Innovation Directorate part of DPTIIDH, featuring local entrepreneurs helping to strengthen our ecosystem. By inviting founders to answer five questions, we want to highlight the most inspiring stories and patterns of our ecosystem. We hope that by giving startup founders a space to share their knowledge and experience, we will all learn and grow together.
How has your career helped you with setting up your start-up?
My career as a software developer has helped me to better understand the software development cycle, the steps that need to be followed to make a product as safe, fast and effective as possible and the impact that a well-built product has on the end user. I also understood the key steps that need to be followed to manage a team consisting of software engineers.
What have been some of the biggest challenges for you?
In our beginnings we encountered a lot of difficulties with the relevant legislation affecting this industry which were not updated according to European legislation. However with the help of the Minister of Entrepreneurship Mr. Eduard Shalsi who, after hearing the requests of the whole industry, not only of our company, had the right vision to propose the necessary changes in the law, which were approved by parliament and opened way of remote verification of the individual and consequently facilitated the opening of accounts without the need for the physical presence of the individual.
Another challenge is educating the consumer about the use of new payment methods. Unlike many EU countries, in Albania most consumers still prefer to pay in cash. lthough statistics show a growing trend of using alternative payment methods, Albania still remains a country that relies heavily on cash.
What have been some of the biggest wins of your engagement?
I believe that the biggest victory for us has been finding partners who had the right vision to trust the RPAY project as well as the team that builds, maintains and develops the system.
Another important victory was collecting funds from foreign investors which will give us the opportunity to be certified and to offer our services in the countries of the EU and the United Kingdom. Expansion in EU and UK countries significantly increases the number of potential customers for RPAY.
What are some specific needs of RPAY?
RPAY as a startup has a constant need to absorb new talent, and as a result we are always in the process of recruiting potential candidates.
Another thing we need is close cooperation with banks in Albania to enable our users an application that is as compatible as possible with our competitors in the world.
Why did you choose Tirana to establish and grow your business?
Tirana is a country that has many world-class software engineers and I am very happy that many of them are part of our team. Tirana is also a very good test for our ambitions to expand our services in Europe and the United Kingdom of Great Britain, due to the fact that there are many individuals who are not used to using services like the ones we offer. If we manage to educate a very difficult market such as Tirana and Albania and manage to catch our targets, then we are very confident that when we offer our services in the EU and UK we will have it somewhat easier to absorb potential customers.
How do you see Rpay over the next 5 years?
In the next 5 years I see RPAY as one of the leading companies in the field of Fintech in Albania and a very stable company in Europe and the United Kingdom.
If you want to share your history with our local ecosystem, you can contact us by email: digital@tirana.al
