Givingli, a digital greeting card startup, raises $3 million in a seed round
Givingli, a digital greeting card startup, raises $3 million in a seed round
While the digital revolution has altered nearly every aspect of social interaction and communication over the last few decades, the humble birthday card has demonstrated surprising resilience.
Givingli, a small Los Angeles-based startup with an app that aims to disrupt the way Generation Z sends digital greeting cards, has raised seed funding from investors who believe in their philosophy of modern gifting. The startup raised a $3 million seed round led by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian's Seven Seven Six, with participation from Snap's Yellow Accelerator.
The husband and wife co-founders stumbled into the world of digital greetings and gifts after foregoing physical wedding invitations and researching how the digital greetings space had evolved and had not evolved. They've taken a mobile-first approach to greetings for special occasions and moments when users simply want to convey their thoughts to someone.
“At first, we thought it would be primarily birthdays and categories such as weddings, graduation, and so on, and I believe we threw in some 'just because' cards, but that quickly became the most popular category,” CEO Nicole Emrani Green tells TechCrunch. “I believe that's what sparked our virality, because with each Givingli sent, you're bringing someone else into the conversation.”
The app is monetized through a $3.99 monthly premium subscription that grants users access to a broader selection of digital greeting designs from the startup's roster of more than 40 artists. Along with premium subscriptions, users can purchase digital gift cards to accompany their greetings. Givingli's gift card marketplace currently features over 150 brands, including Amazon, Spotify, Nike, and DoorDash.
Customization has been a key selling point for Givingli's offering. While users are compelled to choose from hundreds of available greeting cards, they can also customize them by adding images or videos in addition to text. The goal is to create an experience comparable to messages shared via email, text, or social media services.
“It's unsurprising that for a generation of digital natives, the ability to like, swipe, upvote, or send a quick text from our phones has become the primary way we connect with others,” Ohanian said in a press release announcing the seed round. “What initially drew me to Givingli was Nicole and Ben's acute understanding of this evolution and their vision for a platform that enables creative tools for elevating those interactions and deepening connections. Whether it's sending a digital birthday gift or a simple note, Givingli has clearly put snail mail on notice.”
In Conclusion
One of the team's greatest challenges has been increasing awareness of their native app, which users can download to send greetings. Last fall, the Givingli team announced a partnership with Snap in which their gifting service was integrated into Snapchat via a bite-sized Snap Mini app. The launch came after the startup was accepted into Snap's Yellow Accelerator program.
According to Emrani Green, the partnership has aided in the growth of their platform, with over 5 million people using Givingli to send greetings since the app launched in 2019.
