Gyft builds a digital wallet-like platform that allows users to add plastic gift cards, track balances, receive retailer offers and re-gift or registry cards via web and mobile. Launched in early 2012 by Vinny Lingham and CJ MacDonald, the product expanded from an iPhone app to Android and web and added features such as APIs, bitcoin support and a gift card registry. The company works with more than 300 retailers and has seen over $10 million in value from 200,000 uploaded plastic gift cards; it is on track to sell over $5 million in gift cards this year and is adding new cards at a rate of roughly one every two minutes. The team is about 14 people, primarily engineering and product, and plans to remain lean while adding a couple hires. Near-term product plans funded by the round include geo-targeting features and an iOS refresh for the holiday season; in 2014 Gyft plans card-swapping and international expansion. Gyft declined to disclose customer counts or revenue, pointing instead to gift-card counts and value on its platform. Gyft builds a mobile gift-card marketplace that lets consumers buy, save and redeem physical and virtual gift cards from retailers via an iPhone app. The app supports entering plastic-card numbers, sending virtual cards to friends, and a patent-pending “scratch” to reveal card numbers. Features include Facebook-based friend sorting, push notifications, geo-fenced alerts and merchant incentives to drive redemptions. Gyft partners with processors Stored Value Solutions, Giftango and CashStar (together accounting for about 80% of gift-card programs) and works with retailer partners such as Sephora, Amazon, Lowe’s, Brookstone and Toys "R" Us. To launch at TechCrunch Disrupt SF it offered more than $250,000 in free gift cards to users and planned Passbook integration for iOS 6. Founders Vinny Lingham (formerly of Clicks2Customers and Yola) and CJ MacDonald (formerly of LiveOps and Luminate) are leading the product and distribution efforts. The company closed a $1.25M financing round to support its launch and growth.

Total raised

$6M

Funding rounds

2

Latest round

Series A

Latest activity

Sep 2013