Much derided mobile payments startup Clinkle has unveiled its customer acquisition strategy: bribing students with $20 bills from a vending machine stuffed with cash.
As first spotted by Valleywag, the 'Treat Bot' machine has been in place at the University of California, Berkeley over the last few days. Students have been tweeting photos of themselves with their free money, giving the troubled firm some much-needed positive publicity.
Founded by 22-year old Lucas Duplan, Clinkle turned Silicon Valley heads in June last year when it announced a $25 million seed funding round before it had even launched its first product.
But the firm soon became a figure of fun thanks to the secrecy surrounding its product, launch delays, huge staff turnover, and rumours about the leadership of Duplan, dubbed the "Prince Joffrey of mobile payments" by Valleywag.
In September a bungled launch eventually arrived but the product - a Venmo-clone that includes a pre-paid Visa card and an app which can be used to transfer rewards, or 'treats' in Clinkle-speak, to friends - underwhelmed.
The firm is now hoping to counter the bad press by taking its product straight to students and winning them over with hard cash.