The idea of corporate gifts to maintain customer relationships is not a new concept. In fact, there’s a cottage industry of “gift-as-a-service” startups promising to streamline the process, from companies like Reachdesk and &Open to Sendoso and Goody. Suppliers say their industry is a lucrative one (estimated at $258 billion). One study found that 66% of people who receive a promotional product or gift are likely to remember the brand and 79% are likely to do business with the company again.
But as Evabot co-founder Rabi Gupta says, there’s “a lot of clutter” in the corporate gifting space. Many sellers argue that they do little more than send company-branded swag like t-shirts and thermoses, which don’t really build loyalty. In a recent survey, companies cited inability to buy from multiple brands, managing inventory and warehousing, and product limitations as their top challenges when it comes to gifting.
Evabot is a vendor itself. But Gupta says the company’s AI-driven approach, which uses chatbots to personalize gifts for gift recipients about their likes, preferences and lifestyle, is more effective than most.
Investors agree. Evabot today announced that it has raised $10.83 million in a funding round led by Comcast Ventures, with participation from Alumni Ventures, Bloomberg Beta, Precursor Ventures, Leading Venture Partners and Silicon Valley Bank. Gupta said the proceeds will be used to fund Evabot’s operations, product development and growth, as well as its investments in AI to build “fully automated” gifting experiences.
“Every organization wants to really ‘know’ their customers and employees so they can create thoughtful experiences and touchpoints. Every enterprise cares about building relationships, but they need to do so in moderation,” Gupta told TechCrunch via email. They want a better way to connect with their employees.”
Image Credits: Evabot
Gupta introduced the Evabot, called Vizzy, in 2016, shortly after immigrating to the US along with Satwik Saxena, Ashish Kumar and Akshay Gupta. , a social app to discuss TV programs and channels.
Like other corporate gifting platforms, Evabot offers a variety of gifting services, from holiday and birthday gifts to employee onboarding items. Evabot connects to customer relations and HR systems like Salesforce and Workday to automatically fill in details like name and contact information. Once recipients have completed the questionnaire sent by the aforementioned chatbot Evabot It automatically selects and mails the gift – complete with a handwritten note.
Evabot’s rival Alice also uses AI to track interactions to plug different apps and personalize gift recommendations. But Rabi Gupta says Evabot uses AI in a variety of ways, not just for gift suggestions.
The business model is a combination of software-as-a-service subscriptions and donation revenue, Rabi Gupta tells TechCrunch. The price proved attractive — Evabot shipped more than 125,000 unique gifts today to more than 1,000 customers, including healthcare giant Cigna. Most of the gifts come from “artisanal” direct-to-consumer products and local vendors, says Rabi Gupta.
But what about future growth? Corporate gift market The outlook for 2020 is positive, with a poll showing that 54% of companies plan to increase their investment in gifting over the next two years. Although Rabi Gupta admits to seeing it “cold,” Evabot’s co-founders believe the company has the potential to operate despite the headwinds.
“There is definitely a short-term slowdown. [in the corporate gifting space] As companies are slowing down hiring… but overall we are seeing a lot of interest from enterprises looking to build long-term relationships,” said Rabi Gupta. “We were profitable before promotion to Serie A. Right now, we have a two-year runway, and the idea is to reach profitability and achieve 4x scale in the next 18 months.
Evabot has raised a total of $13.83 million in capital to date, including a previously undisclosed $3 million seed round. The company employs 60 people in San Francisco, Dallas and cities in Canada and India.
