Starting a business is a big move, and for Laurie Nicholas and his co-founder Dom Barter, launching PitchIn has been an exciting journey of resilience, learning, and progress. Less than a year in, they’ve already validated the core assumptions behind their solution and have an MVP, proving that perseverance and a clear mission can bring an idea into reality.

Laurie, who has a broad technical background as a Digital Product Leader, and Dom, an experienced developer, were former colleagues before teaming up to bring PitchIn to life in 2024. The idea—Laurie’s brainchild—tackles a common frustration in grassroots sports: collecting and managing payments from teammates. Whether it’s five-a-side football, netball, or other social sports, organisers often struggle with chasing payments. PitchIn removes that hassle, ensuring fairer payment splitting and making life easier for organisers.

With their MVP (minimum viable product) complete, Laurie’s own football team is now testing the app, and next month, they’ll launch a pilot with The Hike with Mike Foundation. While PitchIn’s primary function is payment collection, in this pilot, it will also support event registration and communication, giving it exposure to over 300 participants who could introduce it to their own teams. This isn’t just a test; it’s a fantastic opportunity to demonstrate the app’s potential. It’s already gaining traction, with one of the charity’s trustees—a netball player—keen to trial it with her Back to Netball club.

Turning interest into users

So far, Laurie and Dom have focused on proving the demand for PitchIn, and the response has been overwhelmingly positive. Teams see the value, and organisers love the idea. The next step? Converting interest into active users.

Stepping outside his comfort zone, Laurie has taken on sales and marketing, personally pitching the app at sports events and engaging with teams between matches. The feedback has been encouraging, but the real challenge lies in onboarding full teams—a necessary step for PitchIn to work effectively. “It’s like climbing a mountain,” Laurie admits, but they’re taking strategic steps to get there.

To secure more early adopters, they’ve launched a referral scheme to encourage captains and organisers to bring their teams on board. They’re also exploring local partnerships, with Laurie in discussions with UMix, University of Sheffield Sport, and the City Council about integrating PitchIn with community sports facilities.

The leap from stability to startup

For Laurie, the transition from a secure, well-established career to the unpredictable world of startups has been a big adjustment. Wearing multiple hats—from marketing to business development—has been a learning curve, but also an opportunity for important personal growth.

“Being a founder challenges your self-belief,” Laurie reflects. “You go from knowing you’re good at your job to doing new things that don’t always work. It’s a learning curve. But every challenge we overcome builds our confidence.”

While Dom continues to work full-time as a developer, balancing his role in PitchIn alongside his job, he is brimming with enthusiasm about the startup’s potential, explaining,

“PitchIn has been an exciting opportunity to work on a greenfield project with new technology that is positively connecting people through sport. To be able to expand this business and create jobs for local people would make me very proud.”

He adds, “Despite the challenges of balancing a full time job and contributing to PitchIn I’ve enjoyed every step of our journey so far and look forward to the problems we need to solve next.”

The power of community

One of the biggest boosts to Laurie and Dom’s journey has been The Cooper Project—our business incubator that provides free co-working space, startup support, and a thriving network of early-stage founders. “I don’t think we’d be where we are without The Cooper Project,” Laurie says. “I joined initially for the free workspace—which has saved us crucial funds—but I didn’t realise how much I’d benefit from everything else. The support, the input from others, the learning. We’ve got a great rapport as a group and I’ve discovered that I can make a contribution to others too.”

Through Sheffield Technology Park’s free drop-in sessions, Laurie and Dom have also gained valuable insights from venture capitalists, even if VC funding isn’t the right fit for PitchIn at this stage. Additionally, advice from our resident IP law specialist has been instrumental in tackling a trademark challenge, helping them navigate an unexpected hurdle, and learning lots in the process.

The road ahead for PitchIn

The pair’s focus is on growing their user base in Sheffield, proving PitchIn’s scalability before seeking investment from angel investors. This funding will enable them to hire their first employees—a developer (so Laurie can really shift his focus away from coding) and a marketing specialist to drive user adoption.

Laurie and Dom are confident they’ve built something valuable. Now, it’s about getting it into the hands of the people who need it most. And with each new team that signs up and sees the benefits, they take another step forward in their founder journey.

Want to simplify payments for your grassroots sports team or club? Click here to see how PitchIn can help and download the app today.