To egg is human, to receive is divine. In a country with the year round festivities starting with a gifting app is not a bad idea at all.
Easter Egg, a company based out of India’s IT capital, is into the gifting space. The need-gap, as claimed by the company is, while there are tons of gifting apps in the market, there is nothing that helps you pay-it-forward / share joys across geographies.
“And Easter Egg gives the merchant a double off-take for a single billing – every single time. It’s an app, which allows you to buy something for your friend. He or she can redeem it through a code, and in turn, leave behind something for another person. The chain just builds on,” says Akshay Ananth, Co-Founder and CMO of the startup.
Ananth ventured into the business along with Sandeep Sangli, who also is the CEO of the company and Arpita Bahuguna. “Sandeep of Easter Egg had an epiphany in a pub when he was sipping on his favourite Weiss beer. It just occurred to him that his closest friend also loved the same brew and in today's context there was no way for Sandeep to share that experience with his friend. His friend was overseas,” says Ananth about the birth of the app.
What’s in for the partner? “The partner is selling his/her inventory before it gets consumed. For every walk-in, a partner can potentially get one more walk-in if someone chooses to gift at the venue,” claims the company. On its part, for every transaction made at partner venues, Easter Egg takes a transaction fee on the billed amount from the partner (typically about 15% - 20%), while keeping the app experience free for the user.
The company, which has 15 employees as of date, says it has an edge over its competitors due to their investment in blockchain. “If there is a USP that separates us from them, it's Blockchain and we are putting a large amount of effort and brains behind it so that we are everything about gifting and beyond (includes loyalty, a new brand channel for selling, etc),” Ananth adds.
The three co-founders had initially put in Rs 25 lakh each when the company was founded. And on its first year anniversary, in December 2016, Easter Egg was funded by Wealthy Ideas, a Singapore based investment firm.
Currently, Easter Egg is present in Bengaluru, Pune and Singapore. In the near future, the company plans to take it to Mumbai and Delhi in India and look at Dubai and Canada, in the overseas market.
EasterEgg raised $400,000 in January this year to expand its reach beyond three cities and also integrate the platform with the blockchain technology. Wealthy Ideas has been on the lookout for innovators and disruptors in the startup ecosystem in India and Easter Egg is the third startup that they are betting their cards on.
