Wales Deals, Technology Stephen Farrell

Paperclip, an online system that enables users to trade unwanted items, has secured a six-figure investment from Finance Wales and a syndicate of Turkish investors led by Emre Fadillioglu.

The app was founded by Imperial College London graduates Rich Woolley, originally from Penarth, and Alan Small, along with their friend and current School of Oriental and African Studies London student Ziad Al-Ziadi. It allows users to buy, sell, swap and give away second-hand goods with nearby Paperclip users.

The founders initially pitched the idea for the app at the 2014 London Start-up Weekend before securing investment on Dave's crowdfunding TV show Moneypit.

Woolley and the Paperclip board approached Finance Wales Technology Seed Fund team for additional funding following the launch in October 2015.

Following the investment Paperclip, has moved from Penarth to new offices in central Cardiff.

Phil Barnes, the Finance Wales investment executive who structured the deal, said: "Paperclip has some great intellectual property (IP) behind it. Rich and the rest of the team have created a user friendly app which fills an exciting niche in the trade and sale app marketplace.

"They have a number of excellent ideas for monetizing Paperclip, which is currently free to download on iTunes and the Google Play Store, including working with companies like Nandos and Subway to offer local deals to app users."

Finance Wales and Emre Fadillioglu's Turkish investment syndicate join investors including Alan and Juliet Barratt, founders of best-selling fat loss supplement Grenade, and professional poker player Andrej Kuttruf.

Greenaway Scott provided legal advice to Paperclip.