Austin-based Piryx launched on stage at DEMO this morning in San Diego with a new addition to the existing product portfolio which previously consisted of software that aided political campaigns and government agencies with tasks such as compliance and fundraising.

The product being launched is billed as “payments for the social web” and it aims to compete with veteran payment systems such as PayPal’s and Google Checkout’s. Some of the key features of the payments system that were outlined on stage include a slick user experience, the ability to embed the technology in the social Web, along with impressive API’s and a developer-friendly approach. In contrast to how some users perceive PayPal, Piryx aims to be far more customizable and open by meaningfully engaging outside developers to utilize their API’s and to ultimately build out an ecosystem of apps that can support their vertically-targeted approach.

Piryx shared many use cases, including but not limited to small businesses (and startups), political campaigns and organizations, nonprofits, and government entities. The reason that their product is being specifically targeted by vertical is because the company believes that each vertical has unique needs – be it campaign finance reporting for politicians, Facebook integration for small businesses, or cause-based campaigns for non-profits. Given the common complaints about PayPal and Google Checkout, as well as Piryx’s commitment to customizability and openness, this could prove to be both an effective and disruptive approach to the payments space.

The company also pointed out that their aspirations extend beyond just the payments world. They already provide services that add value to the core payments software, such as the social media integration or
compliance software, and they see further opportunities upstream, such as in marketing funnels where they can capitalize on the many facets of the end-to-end purchasing process.