For most entrepreneurs, the hardest part of running a business isn’t the work itself – it’s getting paid for it. Maximiliaan van Kuyk knows that pain all too well. The Dutch-born, Spain-raised, Australia-educated founder has spent years chasing invoices, watching time and energy drain away while waiting for what’s owed. So when he co-founded IOU Marker, he built it around one simple mission: to make trust measurable and payments automatic.
“Through my entire career, I’ve had pain points with chasing money,” van Kuyk told Refresh Miami. “At one point I had to set up an entire RevOps department just to collect payments. That’s when I realized how broken the system is.”
IOU Marker’s software turns accountability into code. Users can sign agreements, send invoices, and track payments in one place. It’s free for the basics, with paid tiers that introduce automation through AI “agents.” These agents handle reminders, follow-ups, and even tone of communication, ensuring payments stay on track without awkward human chases.
“We’re taking the same technology that powers advanced AI assistants and putting it to work in the background of your business,” said van Kuyk [pictured above, at left].
But what makes IOU Marker stand out is its social layer: a Trust Score that rates business reliability much like Airbnb or Uber reviews do for hosts and drivers. “Before you start working with someone, you’ll be able to see who they’ve done business with and how those experiences went,” van Kuyk explained. “If someone has a track record of professionalism, communication, and timely payments, that should mean something. The same goes the other way around.”
The team believes this kind of transparency could reshape how people interact in both professional and personal transactions. From contractors and freelancers to startups and even individuals lending friends money, IOU Marker aims to make “I owe you” a verifiable statement, not just a promise.
“Any business transaction should carry a sense of accountability,” van Kuyk said. “We want to create an ecosystem where good behavior is rewarded, and it becomes very difficult for bad actors to operate.”
The idea was sparked by timing as much as frustration. Advances in AI and so-called “agentic” systems – self-operating digital assistants – finally made it possible to build something efficient enough to compete with traditional players like DocuSign or QuickBooks but at a fraction of the cost.
“We’re in a window where small teams leveraging AI can build faster and smarter than large incumbents,” van Kuyk said. “We’ll stay lean – probably under 20 people – and still scale globally.”
Van Kuyk, who has spent 15 years leading product teams across startups (including stints at Miami startup Superlogic and at Tinder), co-founded IOU Marker with Sauveur Atlan, the company’s chief strategy and marketing officer, and Quinn Ehuler, its chief technology officer. Together, the trio sees IOU Marker as part software platform, part trust revolution.
Their next step: expanding beyond beta and closing a seed round in the $3-5 million range. Van Kuyk said the company has already attracted strategic backers, including investors connected to AI training firm Invisible and fintech leader Wise.
“The long-term goal is simple,” he asserted. “To make trust quantifiable and payments frictionless.”
And for anyone who’s ever sent a “just following up on that invoice” email, that goal hits home.
Pictured at the top of this post: IOU Marker co-founders CEO Maximiliaan van Kuyk, at left, and Chief Strategy Officer Sauveur Atlan. Not pictured is CTO Quinn Ehuler.
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