Sometimes the best ideas look slightly strange when they first show up. Not because they’re impossible, but because they land a little outside the current mood. It takes effort to explain them, patience to try them, and a kind of quiet stubbornness to stick with them when others hesitate. Especially when the market is still forming, when banks are wary, and when every mistake costs actual money you don’t yet have. But for some people, that’s exactly when they decide it’s worth doing. That’s where Jelle found himself in late 2021—out of school, done with a few early missteps, and ready to try building something he actually wanted to see exist. He made a shortlist of ideas, started on one, quickly dropped it. It was an easier business idea, but not something he truly enjoyed doing and moved on to: contactless payment wearables. “It just made sense to me,” he said. “And I felt it was worth giving a real shot.” With his own savings and no external funding, he started building Astari.

“It started strong—then got really hard”

Astari’s launch was fast but messy. Jelle had some early traction from B2B orders and mentorship from a small incubator, which also offered him a market-rate loan when banks wouldn’t. “The product didn’t exist yet on the market. There was no proof, so it was hard to get anyone traditional to fund it,” he said. That first investment helped him make a strong start—but within six months, cash flow challenges crept in. “We’d sell out in a month, but it takes two months to get new stock,” he explained. “So I’d be stuck. I needed to buy twice as much, with money I didn’t have yet.” Pre-orders filled the gap for a while, but they brought delays, customer uncertainty, and a support queue he had to handle himself.

It took about a year of barely breaking even to stabilize. Jelle added more SKUs—including the now core product, payment rings—and eventually took another loan to expand inventory. “From there, we became profitable and could grow in a healthier way.” By mid-2023, he had a team, a repeatable model, and real interest from private equity. “They’re not just offering money,” he said. “They also have people in the market space we’re in, and that’s very interesting to me.”

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“Education is a huge part of the sale”

The concept still takes explaining. “Some people thought we were hiding something in our hands,” Jelle said, recalling early comments on ads where he demonstrated the ring. “They didn’t believe it was real.” That led to a new marketing approach: one structure for cold audiences, another for warm ones, each addressing a different layer of skepticism. “You have to educate,” he said. “Show how it works. How to set it up. Show them the use cases.”

Astari now sells direct-to-consumer online and also works with banks and card issuers on co-branded programs. A recent project with a Polish bank used the rings as a promotional tool—better than cash incentives, Jelle said, because they’re functional and lock users into using the specific card. “They want top-of-wallet status. The ring helps get them there.” A similar B2B effort with a major crypto exchange saw strong adoption, confirming the dual benefit: consumer convenience, and issuer engagement. “It’s a win for both,” Jelle said. “And for us, because we get more rings out there.”

Letting go of support was the first real team challenge. “I really care about good service, and I couldn’t stand useless chatbot replies or people just reading a script,” he said. His first hire had to be someone who could handle customer service with empathy—and also help across strategy and marketing. “Once I found someone who understood how I think, it worked.”

Today, Astari has three full-time team members and several outsourced partners. Marketing stays in-house. Retail is still in the exploring phase—education remains very important which makes it complex—but he’s exploring franchise-style experiments. The bigger focus now is growing the B2B side and deepening partnerships with banks. “We want to be the number one name in Europe for this niche,” Jelle said. The company remains profitable, self-owned, and steadily growing. “In the beginning, you give away a lot of company for very little money. I’m glad I waited,” he said. For now, he’s staying patient—still building, still holding on.

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