Greetabl raises $1.5M, looks to accelerate growth

St. Louis-based Greetabl, an e-commerce gifts and greetings startup led by Joe Fischer and Zoë Scharf, announced the close of the company’s Series Seed II fundraising this week at $1.5M. The round was lead by PinPoint Holdings, with additional investments from Lindbergh Technology Fund, Missouri Technology Corporation, and private angel investors, including Billiken Angel Network…

Greetabl founders Zoë Scharf ad Joe Fischer

St. Louis-based Greetabl, an e-commerce gifts and greetings startup led by Joe Fischer and Zoë Scharf, announced the close of the company’s Series Seed II fundraising this week at $1.5M.

The round was lead by PinPoint Holdings, with additional investments from Lindbergh Technology Fund, Missouri Technology Corporation, and private angel investors, including Billiken Angel Network and Centennial Investors.

Greetabl is known for its patented greeting card that doubles as a gift box. Each package can be customized with photos, a message, and a small gift, which the company then sends directly to the recipient.

The funding will allow Greetabl to finance the launch of new platform features, hire key employees, and expand its marketing, including breaking into new markets.

“We’re not just a gifting company, we’re also a solution,” said Greetabl Founder and CEO Joe Fischer. “We’re solving pain points that we think people aren’t really paying attention to, but we know they have.”

Prices for Greetabl gifts range from $15-$30, what Greetabl calls the Gifting Gap – those instances when a greeting card is not enough, but flowers and other gifts are too expensive or not personal enough.

Fischer sees gift options within that price range as a neglected area in the industry.

“Everything is going online and one of the areas that’s been lagging is the gifting and greeting space in so many ways,” said Fischer. “You want it to still be beautiful, you want it to be high quality and you want it to be personal, but you don’t want to spend [too much] money on it.”

Greetabl is known for its patented greeting card that doubles as a gift box.

Since its October 2015 launch, the company has significantly expanded its design and gift offerings and has reduced processing time.

“We have continued to expand our offering with time,” said Fischer. “We started very, very small. We had [less than] 12 designable gifts, now we have 4 or 5 times that and we’re continuing to try to [cover] every occasion, every relationship you might have.”

Greetabl’s recent round of fundraising will allow for further investment in the Greetabl platform and a focus on growing the business through customer acquisition and retention.

Fischer said that Greetabl is evolving quickly and plans to release more features in the second half of 2017 to address their frequent customer requests.

“The Greetabl team has developed a creative and innovative platform that takes the guesswork out of personalized gift giving, said PinPoint Holdings Partner David Christenson. “Online personalization is a very compelling space and Greetabl has the combination of brand, technology, and execution to be a major player in gifts and greetings. We look forward to helping them continue their extraordinary path of growth.”

Greetabl is an Arch Grants recipient, a graduate of Capital Innovators Tech Accelerator, and housed in the T-REx, a startup incubator in downtown St. Louis. Greetabl won the TechCrunch Pitch-off Competition less than a month after launching in 2015.

“Capital Innovators is excited to be re-investing in Greetabl,” said Lindbergh Technology Fund General Partner, Judy Sindecuse. “Greetabl went through our Accelerator in Fall 2015 and has shown incredible revenue growth since our first investment. We’re thrilled to be a part of their ongoing growth and helping them scale into the future. If you haven’t given someone a Greetabl, make sure you do so. It is truly a gifting experience for both parties.”

Fischer is also a current Pipeline fellow. He just completed his first module within the program and said he is excited to be a part of the Pipeline family.

“I’ve gotten some great guidance from some of the national mentors in particular. It’s really helpful to have those resources,” said Fischer. “Things have been going great which is the reason why we wanted to […] really take the next step in growth.”

As Fischer and Scharf look ahead to what’s in store for Greetabl, they staff committed to one simple philosophy.

“Greetabl is all about helping our users be the best possible friend,” said Fischer. “We are rethinking everything, and couldn’t be more excited about the opportunity ahead of us.”

Christine McGuigan is the Associate Editor of Silicon Prairie News.

This story is part of the AIM Archive

This story is part of the AIM Institute Archive on Silicon Prairie News. AIM gifted SPN to the Nebraska Journalism Trust in January 2023. Learn more about SPN’s origin »

Channels:

Get the latest news and events from Nebraska’s entrepreneurship and innovation community delivered straight to your inbox every Wednesday.