eGood, a new startup from Glendora, California, was chosen as one of the top startups to emerge out of Startup Alley at TechCrunch Disrupt SF today for its charitable spin on mobile payments and loyalty. In other words, eGood is building an in-store check-in and loyalty platform that enables those patronizing their favorite local businesses to not only buy a coffee, but give back to a local charity while doing it.
eGood is starting in Southern California (where the company is based based), with plans to use the new $3 million in seed financing they announced earlier this week — a round that was led by serial entrepreneur and angel investor, Wolfgang Buehler — to expand its footprint in the region and throughout the U.S. Beginning with its first local partner in Los Angeles, Hama Sushi, businesses that adopt eGood’s platform will be able to allow customers to make donations of one, three or five percent of the total transaction to charities of their choice.
Local charities and non-profits will be able to partner with local coffee shops, restaurants and so on, with the eGood partner asking customers to donate to the particular charity with each purchase. Eventually, the startup wants to enable businesses to allow their users to select the charity that they want to give to and donate accordingly, but that feature is still in development. The startup is also testing a fundraiser app, which will let businesses contribute larger amounts — 10, 20 or 30 percent — to the beneficiary of their choice.
“It’s an easy way for businesses to do some good,” says CEO Zack Swire. “Whether they’re big or small, they can support good causes as part of their daily operations and in a way that makes sense and gives their own business a bump without becoming a burden.”
The idea is for eGood to act as a loyalty platform as well, so that local coffee shops, for example, can offer their customers a free coffee after 10 check-ins for charity. Local business can bring customer and local attention to the charity or non-profit, allowing the good cause to advertise with the platform, while (in theory) building loyalty among customers who appreciate being able to donate to a good cause. After all, given the choice between two coffee shops, one that offers frictionless donations to charity and another that offers the same old regular experience, the founders are betting you’d choose the former.
As far as loyalty is concerned, Swire tells us that Classic Coffee, the startup’s first test partner, has had some success, producing 5,900 check-ins for charity since launching the campaign — compared to 1,776 check-ins on Foursquare over the same period of time (without using eGood).
While consumers see one version of eGood, businesses get their own B2B version of the app, which comes with customer tracking, analytics and other loyalty features. The startup also offers service reps to help businesses with setup and integration, offering businesses advice and help on how to capture and record transactions, customer check-ins, data and so on.
Right now, eGood has started beta testing with 25 local businesses, but as it goes live with its beta later this fall, it will allow businesses to have their customers suggest their favorite local shops and causes. And, as they move forward, the company will aggregate listings of various local causes that people can support, allowing users to scout them from its website and app, and eventually donate to them as well.
For more, check out eGood’s pitch on stage at TC Disrupt SF today below:
