A couple of weeks ago, on the 11th day of Ellen DeGeneres’ 12 Days of Giveaways, Ellen gave her audience the ultimate surprise! Partnering with the show, Surpriise, the first and only mobile gifting app that allows users to send Visa gift cards digitally to anywhere in the world, gifted the audience with $300 gift cards loaded in the app.
Surpriise, created by our portfolio companies, Vouchr, is transforming the gift card industry globally. We invested in Vouchr back in 2015 but kept in under the radar until now. I still remember how excited I was when Rob and Suresh, co-founders of Vouchr, introduced me to the app. I love how it empowers users to send gifts to each other, regardless of where they are, and what kind of gifts they want.
Gifting is a universal culture. No matter where and how they grew up, people often gift to others to express their love and gratitude. Especially on people’s birthdays and during Christmas, people always look for the perfect gift to surprise their loved ones.
But trying to get me the perfect gift – and you can ask Allen – is always a challenge. He gave up on the idea of surprising me with a gift long time ago because I dread when I get a gift that is not too much of my liking. I guess that is because I am so used to my favourite childhood gifts – red packets. Growing up in a traditional Chinese family, adults would put money in tiny red envelopes and would gift to others on their birthdays and Chinese New Year. They called these red packets or “Lucky Money”. By saving up the money, I got to spend them on things I absolutely loved.
Therefore, I am so thrilled by Surpriise that allows me to send anyone a digital gift card that allows the recipient to spend in the stores they love, or experience at places they enjoy. Surpriise even allows me to gamify the gifting experience with the recipients, such as solving a riddle, or taking a selfie at a designated location. The app not only empowers the recipients to choose their own spending experience, but also empowers the givers to interact with friends through the gifting process.
Surpriise is the first of many products that Vouchr is going to develop. In their own words, Vouchr is going to “Redefining Digital Gifting & Rewards”. The opportunity here is massive. In 2015, over 8 billion red packets were sent digitally in China while it is estimated that the gifting market size in US alone is about USD$131 billion. We look forward to seeing Vouchr transforms this market into a fun and engaging one.
So are you done with your Christmas shopping yet? We suggest you to get your loved ones a Surpriise!
– Eva
