Why are we called Pomelo?

Pomelo, the humble fruit no one really knows. Related to the grapefruit, which in French and Spanish is actually called Pomelo which pushes it even further into unknownness. The popularity (or lack thereof) of the Pomelo is not why we chose it for our business name. We chose Pomelo because it perfectly sums up the concept of segmentation (and calling ourselves orange or lemon didn’t quite have the same ring.)

Our mission as a company is to back the risk takers and accelerate ambition. This may sound like a lofty goal but if you don’t dream big what is really the point of dreaming? The crux of it is, we wanted to support start-ups in their efforts to make the world a better place and change the industries they work in, and through each of our experiences we realised one thing that was often overlooked in the start-up landscapes was the importance of equity and motivation.

Equity is, essentially the ownership of a business boiled down into a percentage or number. It's a start-ups number one motivator and it’s so important to recognise it as such, alongside being the most important way to recognise key employees as well.

To give out equity you essentially are giving away a portion of your company to employees (which is why it’s so damn great for everyone involved, as founders get a team who have vested interest and employees get a stake of the potential future success they’re working towards). This act of giving away portions has many metaphors and analogies (chocolate cake, pizza etc etc) and for us, we chose to focus on segmented fruit. Basically, you take a fruit and you pull it apart, giving away a segment or piece to everyone around. Sharing the juicy, tart vitamin c goodness with all the important people growing your business. It's positive, it’s fresh and it’s lively and vibrant. Which is what we think of when we think of all the amazing partners we’re working with, who are working their buts off to change the game and innovate in their industry. It’s a sign of the change of the times, where people can be a little more humble and share around a stake of the pie so we can all grow together. It's also the furthest thing away from anything stuffy and corporate, which we’re all very allergic to at Pomelo.

The pomelo is more humble than a chocolate cake, but it still serves the same purpose (and it gave us an excuse to take cool pictures of fruit to use for content) and this, in a short simple way, is why we are called Pomelo.

Want to find out more about how we can help you sort out your “segments” or “slices” for your key players? Then give us a bell, and we can peel open a pomelo and talk shop (or have a coffee, also an option).