Chicago-based Boomerang is kicking to the curb its initial local-merchant approach to social gifting. Instead it’s focusing on what it believes is a much bigger opportunity: tapping into the viral marketing potential of online gift cards.
Wrapp is enabling users to send donations through its social gifting service so users will be able to donate money in their friend’s name to different charities and non-profit organizations such as Kiva or the Red Cross.
Treater, a social gifting startup launching Wednesday, wants to use Facebook help people send impromptu, casual gifts to friends. The Washington, DC-based startup is also announcing that it has raised $2.5 million dollars.
Chicago-based Boomerang, backed by Groupon founders’ Lightbank, is launching Tuesday to give Facebook users a way to give friends paperless gifts, including vouchers for local restaurants, spas, sporting companies and theaters. Some gift options are free, offering merchants a new way to attract customers.
After launching in Sweden in November and recently expanding its presence in Europe, Wrapp, the Swedish social gifting start-up, is now coming to the U.S. to tap America’s love of gift cards. The start-up is partnering with a number of brands including Gap, H&M and Sephora.
In what is starting to look like an e-commerce version of Risk, Wrapp is retaliating against clone-artists Rocket Internet by launching on their home turf and detailing ambitious expansion plans
BonaYou, which lets people send prepaid Mastercards as gifts to their Facebook friends, has just received cash to help it expand across Europe this year
