From being a homeless kid in New Zealand to a successful tech entrepreneur in Perth, Tyler Spooner’s story is unusual, and inspiring, all at the same time.
"When I was 10, I was homeless, and the charities helped me a lot,” Tyler shared.
“I wanted to give back once I’d made money.”
It was his older sister who put him on a plane, with a one way ticket, to Perth.
Landing in WA, he found work in a commercial cleaning business, and within a few years, had struck out on his own: launching a recycling venture turned eco-cleaning company in Perth.
After a few years, he sold the business, and turned his attention to charity work, which through a few frustrations led him to pivot into tech with his first app, Feedmee in 2016.
Tyler Spooner gracing the cover of Business News in 2023.
To overcome his limited knowledge of technology, Tyler joined programs such Plus Eight and Founders Institute, both run out of Spacecubed, to acquire the skills he needed to bring his ideas to life.
“It was like Tinder for food,” he said. “You could walk down a street, and pull up meals that were available from local restaurants.”
His first tech venture was far from easy, with Feedmee’s business model not scaling as he had hoped.
However, Tyler's team learned valuable lessons about app development and user recruitment, pivoting in 2018 to grocery delivery launching a concept - called Unocart - similar to Milkrun, years before that company existed.
"We were three years before Milkrun, had $250,000 in revenue, but were losing a lot of money," Tyler said.
Tyler realised that logistics weren’t going to be profitable and that the real value lay in the data behind the grocery purchases, leading to the launch of UGroup in 2019.
Despite those early setbacks, Tyler was determined to succeed.
"We slept in the office and had ramen and noodles," Tyler said.
“We realised that the consumer spending data, taken from receipts, could be really useful data information for the stores. We could reward buyers for sharing their purchasing data, and then sell this to the retailers. This was the idea behind UGroup.”
Despite the financial strain, including pushing credit card debt, he stayed persistent, focused on learnings and what he could control.
Plus Eight cohort #1, 2017, with Tyler Spooner standing at the back, central.
Pivotal Moments
Tyler's journey was marked by a few key turning points.
Participation in accelerator programs such as Plus Eight in 2017 gave him access to mentorship and networking opportunities.
“[Plus Eight] was good for understanding the ecosystem we had, but you need to understand what all these accelerators are, to utilise them the most while you're in them,” he said.
Networking also played a key role in his success, where he attended various networking events like Morning Startup.
However, it wasn’t until Tyler took things into his own hands that he really started to build valuable connections.
“The reason why we were lucky is because I messaged everyone I could on LinkedIn.”
To him, success wasn’t about waiting for luck to happen; it was about creating opportunities through proactive outreach.
Unlike many other businesses, Covid-19 surprisingly had a positive impact on the UGroup.
"Covid allowed us to do international sales online, which was a huge movement in the industry," Tyler shared.
The ability to sign contracts virtually opened doors to global markets, propelling his business forward.
Tyler’s operational and personal success
Even though Tyler’s journey has had various twists and turns, his hard work paid off with UGroup, a company that has transformed how brands interact with consumer data by paying consumers for their input.
“We operate in three countries: Australia, Canada and the US. We've had over 2 million users of our mobile application. We process over 100 million shopping receipts here, and we've paid back over US$5 million to consumers for the data.” he says.
Tyler’s achievements have not gone unnoticed. In 2020, he won numerous awards, including Startup of the Year. His recognition continued in 2021 with a shortlist nomination for Entrepreneur of the Year and a spot in Business News' 40 Under 40 List.
Challenges in the Ecosystem
When it comes to the Western Australian startup ecosystem, Tyler does highlight some significant gaps, including the lack of funding for promising startups.
“The WA ecosystem needs to support good startups more, where there is perhaps an initial lack of return on investment,” he expressed.
Additionally, Tyler highlights the scarcity of affordable legal and accounting support for startups, which can be a major hurdle.
He also cites the lack of a clear path to global markets, especially the US, with the ecosystem perhaps needing to do more to connect startups with international opportunities.
"I think we’re all learning," Tyler reflects.
Meanwhile, Tyler is now steering a ship with more than 60 staff, and revenues of $16 million (FY24) with contracted sales of more than $17 million for the year to June 2025.
Indeed, as reported by Business News last year, the business has been cash-flow positive for more than three years and has bought back half the money it raised from early investors.
And yes, he still gives back; mentoring on various programs, including Plus Eight and Climate Launchpad.
Persistence pays off.
Connect with Tyler Spooner on LinkedIn here, and learn more about UGroup & Co here.
To learn more about WA’s innovation ecosystem:
- Sign up to become a Meshpoints partner for free here and join 170+ other organisations building a stronger culture of entrepreneurship and innovation in WA
- Explore the WA Innovative Society Index (grants, programs, startups) or Dealroom WA (startups, investors, funding rounds)
- View (and subscribe for free) to the WA Innovation Calendar
Stay tuned for our next WA Startup Stories feature, where we spotlight Katie Liew, Founder of The Underground Collaborative. From leaving a corporate career to launching a social enterprise supporting women and youth experiencing homelessness, Katie’s story is a powerful example of purpose-led entrepreneurship in action. You won’t want to miss it.
