Yiftee: Gifts That Strengthen Local Communities

Based in Menlo Park, California, Yiftee is a gifting service that lets users send real gifts, usually $20 or less, via smartphone or the web in just two minutes. To send a gift, open the Yiftee iPhone or web app, choose a gift at a local merchant, add a personalized note, and pay for it with PayPal or a credit card. The giftee, who is notified via Facebook, email, or text, shows a prepaid digital Mastercard on their smartphone to the merchant to claim their gift. Yiftee gifts that are not picked up after four weeks can be donated to charity or credited back to your account.

A winner of the 2012 Stanford BASES Forge Accelerator program, Yiftee was founded to help local merchants increase foot traffic into their stores. By connecting merchants and consumers, the startup helps strengthen local communities. At present, there are 2 million local establishments listed on Yiftee.