Charm

What do they actually do

Charm is a consumer mobile app that lets you keep one balance and pay people on other payment apps without asking them to switch. You load money into Charm, then choose a recipient and their app (e.g., Venmo, Cash App, Zelle). Charm matches your payment with a counterparty on that destination app who sends the on‑platform transfer; Charm settles the balances between users behind the scenes Charm site.

Your balance is held as USDC in a smart‑contract account, and Charm says it cannot withdraw funds unilaterally. The app routes funds to a DeFi lending protocol (Morpho) to earn yield, and offers incentives like cashback on certain inbound transfers; card funding shows standard card fees at checkout. Charm says it’s available on both iOS and Android with “no geographic restrictions,” and the iOS listing shows the publisher as Parcel Dynamics, Inc. Charm site App Store listing.

Who are their target customer(s)

• Frequent P2P senders (students, friends splitting bills): They juggle Venmo, Cash App, and Zelle balances and can’t easily send across apps without awkward workarounds or asking recipients to switch.
• Gig workers and freelancers paid across different apps: Income arrives in multiple app wallets, creating busywork to consolidate or cash out; money often sits idle and earns nothing.
• Recipients who don’t want new apps (parents, older relatives, small customers): They want to get paid where they already are; being asked to sign up for a new service creates confusion and delays.
• People who keep spare cash in payment apps: Balances in popular P2P apps typically earn little or nothing, and moving money to a bank to earn yield is inconvenient.
• Power users willing to act as counterparties for rewards: They want predictable matching, clear economics, and low operational risk when moving funds between platforms.

How would they acquire their first 10, 50, and 100 customers

• First 10: Onboard friends, family, and YC contacts by hand; concierge their first transfers, reimburse any fees, and provide real‑time support to establish trust and validate matching mechanics.
• First 50: Target university groups and gig‑worker communities with demos, short onboarding sessions, and time‑limited signup bonuses; use early users to prove reliable matching and create simple step‑by‑step guides.
• First 100: Launch a double‑sided referral program, add 1–2 campus or local business partners, and run small targeted social ads; keep manual support for any failed transfers and iterate incentives based on matching performance.

What is the rough total addressable market

Top-down context:

US mobile P2P transaction value was estimated around $1.7T in 2024, led by Venmo/Cash App/Zelle, indicating a very large domestic market for consumer P2P flows Insider Intelligence via Oberlo. Zelle alone reported more than $1T in 2024 volume, underscoring the scale of US P2P activity eMarketer NBC News.

Bottom-up calculation:

As an initial wedge, assume 2 million US frequent P2P senders use Charm for cross‑app payments, averaging $150/month in cross‑app sends. That implies ~$3.6B annual flow; at a 0.5% blended take (fees/spread), that’s ~$18M in annual revenue potential for the early market segment.

Assumptions:

• Initial focus is US users due to destination rails (Venmo/Cash App/Zelle) being US‑centric.
• Average user sends $150/month specifically for cross‑app payments (not total P2P).
• Charm can sustainably capture ~0.5% in blended economics across volume (fees, spread, or similar).

Who are some of their notable competitors

• Venmo: Mainstream US P2P app with a large consumer base and in‑app balances; many recipients prefer to be paid here, making it a default alternative to cross‑app solutions.
• Cash App: Popular P2P wallet with banking features; holds balances and enables instant P2P payments, competing for the same send/receive moments.
• Zelle: Bank‑backed P2P network embedded in many US banking apps; very high transaction volume and instant bank‑to‑bank transfers compete with third‑party wallets.
• PayPal: Large consumer wallet and P2P/payments platform; broad acceptance and entrenched user trust make it a frequent default for money movement.
• Revolut: Global consumer finance app with P2P, cards, and savings; offers a consolidated balance and features that reduce the need for cross‑app solutions in some markets.