With another high-tech holiday nearly in the bag, the founder of a Minneapolis startup that sells protection plans for all those spendy gadgets is gearing up for growth.
Entrepreneur Clarence Bethea is fresh off a 13-week boot camp sponsored by Techstars and Target Corp., where he said he gained the focus, expertise and fundraising tools to build on early successes of his fledgling warranty protection company, Upsie Technology Inc.
Upsie's extended-warranty plans cover the repair or replacement of a wide variety of consumer electronics and home appliances for up to 50 to 90 percent below those typically sold in big box retail stores.
The company's name is about getting consumers on the upside of an "oopsie" — something you might say, perhaps, if you drop your mobile phone in the toilet, spill coffee on your laptop or get too rough with your gaming console.
Through its website and free mobile app, Upsie keeps a copy of the purchase receipt and all warranty packages and dates in one easy-to-navigate portal, freeing consumers from having to hold on to paperwork or dig through "shoe boxes in the back of the closet," as Bethea likes to say.
Upsie also pledges to seamlessly connect consumers to repair centers and process the claim with its insurance underwriter, Bankers Warranty Group.
Since late summer, sales have been ticking up by 25 percent each month as the company continues to beef up its marketing efforts and fine-tune its business model.
"He's very much on the cusp," said Ryan Broshar, who runs the Techstars retail program and also made an investment in Upsie — he declined to say how much — through his capital investment fund, Matchstick Ventures.