Making it Work

Sisters behind Dublin subscription management firm Taly set sights on British expansion

The company provides a way for users to access and manage all their subscriptions in one place

Alex and Kerri Sheeran, of Taly Subscriptions: firm provides a way for consumers to access and manage a range of subscriptions in one place. Picture: Fergal Phillips

Taly Subscriptions is a Castleknock, Co Dublin-based business founded by sisters Kerri and Alex Sheeran.

The company was founded in 2021, has three staff in total and provides a way for consumers to access and manage a range of subscriptions in one place.

“It’s basically a marketplace that aggregates and manages consumer subscriptions. We operate similarly to how Deliveroo facilitates the search and purchase of takeaways. Taly allows consumers to browse, purchase and manage all of their lifestyle subscriptions in the one place,” Kerri Sheeran told the Business Post.

“The main services we’re addressing are food, beverages, health and beauty. We focused on these markets, as the bulk of consumer subscription comes from those markets. We’re channelling our energy into that.”

The idea for the business grew out of frustrations felt by both Sheeran sisters around how they managed their own subscriptions. From the start, they focused on the impact on larger markets and found there was particular potential in Britain.

“We were both keen subscription shoppers and noticed a gap in the industry when it came to finding the products we’d subscribed to and also managing them. Through our research, we found that 81 per cent of British households were purchasing subscriptions, but 75 per cent were unsatisfied with the management tools,” Sheeran said.

“That was a huge driving force for us. So many times, there’d be €5.99 going out of the bank account and we had no idea where it went. Likewise, we had challenges cancelling or pausing subscriptions. At Taly, we allow consumers to aggregate subscriptions. In a typical house in London there are five different subscriptions coming in monthly, and we’re bringing that all to the one touch point.”

With backgrounds in business, having grown up around a family business, the duo have a strong entrepreneurial spirit.

Taly is supported by Enterprise Ireland, having gone through the New Frontiers programme originally, and is now part of the high potential start-up unit (HPSU).

“They are helping us a lot with expanding into Britain. They knew it was our main objective for this year and they’ve put us in touch with their British offices, who are assisting us,” Sheeran said.

Taly has grown rapidly in its short existence, quickly winning over businesses seeking to attract users who want subscription-based services.

“We’ve signed up over 40 Irish businesses. Britain is our next big stepping stone before hitting the US; we’ve already signed up over 150 British businesses and have a waitlist building there,” Sheeran said.

“This year, we’re expanding rapidly in Britain and expect to onboard between 200 and 250 further businesses. We also hope to build out a lot of proof points to get into the US market in 2024 and fundraise in the meantime. We want to be the world’s global platform for managing and accessing subscription goods.”

Over the next year, Taly plans to add a further six staff and Sheeran is confident of being in a strong position when it makes the jump to the US next year.

“By this time next year we hope to have around 400 to 500 end merchants on the platform and be servicing a few thousand end users.”

This Making it Work article is produced in partnership with Enterprise Ireland