That old charity collection bucket may soon become a relic of the past thanks to two entrepreneurs

THAT old charity collection bucket on the counter of retail outlets may soon become a relic of the past.

Brisbane entrepreneurs Jordan Grives.

THAT old charity collection bucket on the counter of retail outlets may soon become a relic of the past.

Brisbane young gun entrepreneurs Dominic Holland and Jordan Grives have spent the past 18 months developing a paywave-style device known as Tap Tins that accomplishes the same thing.

After a bit of tweaking by Paypal boffins in the US, the lads finally got the latest firmware this week and production models are ready to go.

They now have about 900 of the devices set to roll out across Queensland and hope to see 10,000 up and running around Australia within 12 months.

Eventually, their entity Alicorn Ventures expects to team up with Paypal to disperse Tap Tins across the US and UK.

Illustration of Dominic Holland and Jordan Grives by Brett Lethbridge.

“This could really balloon in to a very large company very quickly,’’ Holland told City Beat yesterday.

“We’ve got a fantastic fundraising platform.’’

After a meeting with Lord Mayor Graham Quirk over a boardroom lunch this week, Holland said he has proposed putting 100 of the machines in council offices to help raise money for drought-stricken farmers.

The RSPCA and other charities are particularly keen to deploy the new fundraising tool, which is a no-brainer in an age when fewer and fewer people use cash or carry coins.

Indeed the RSPCA has a one-third stake in the Tap Tins company so they’ll be making money every time someone digs deep and gives a donation.

Charities will have to pay Alicorn up to 20 per cent of each donation, with a minimum of 50¢ per transaction.

Brisbane entrepreneur Dominic Holland.

But Holland said there are no upfront expenses and the cost for charities to set it up themselves would be far higher. “We’ve got the benefits of scale,’’ he said.

The venture’s ramp up follows the demise of Holland’s Uber-style towing business Tow.com.au, which he put in liquidation in June as a result of a protracted legal dispute with the State Government.

Grives made a name for himself back in 2016 by selling his Fonebox enterprise for about $30 million.

CHAMPION BEAST

EKKA kicks off today and it’s already been a good show for Sam Gullo and his crew down at the Breakfast Creek Hotel.

Their go-to man for all those yummy steaks, Nolan Meats boss Terry Nolan, offered up the winning bid for this year’s Heavyweight Grand Champion Lead Steer.

He coughed up $17,000 on behalf of the Creek for the 538kg Limousin Angus Cross beast.

As in years past, Nolan will now prepare the steer at his plant in Gympie and it will be served up in late September at the Creek’s annual prostate cancer fundraising lunch.

Meanwhile, a crowd of more than 200 are expected to rock up to the Ekka Ball at the Hotel Grand Chancellor tonight.

A new feature of the show this year, the Ekka app, is already a hit.

It had already been downloaded more than 5000 times as of yesterday and organisers expect a huge spike once the gates swing open.

MINING GONG

BRISBANE-based mining boss Simon Finnis and his colleagues had plenty to celebrate at this week’s Diggers and Dealers conference.

His Metro Mining snared a coveted gong as Australia’s “leading emerging mining company’’.

Metro bested some formidable competition at the legendary gathering, which attracted a 2300-strong crowd over three days in Kalgoorlie.

The company only started operations at its flagship Bauxite Hills Mine outside of Weipa in April.

After building the mine in near record time, Finnis said he plans to churn out two million tons of the stuff this year. It’s all bound for China during the expected 17-year life of the site.