Guusto

Skai Dalziel and Joe Facciolo, from Vancouver, asked for $150,000 for 7.5 per cent of their company, Guusto, a mobile gifting app that lets users send food and drinks instantly to recipients without the recipient needing the app; the recipient redeems a link sent by text or email at the restaurant. The app is free to use and generates revenue by taking roughly 10 per cent of the gift value from participating restaurants, of which there are over 1,000 locations across 250 cities in Canada. The founders had each invested about $35,000, valued the company at $2 million, and had generated $14,000 in total revenue since a beta launch about six months earlier, with 7,000 app downloads, 1,000 account creations, and 250 people sending a gift.

Joe Mimran went out, disliking the model of extracting a discount from restaurant partners. Manjit Minhas went out due to existing competition in the space. Jim Treliving and Michael Wekerle went out over the valuation being too high relative to sales and investment. Michele Romanow went out, pointing to the low conversion rate from downloads to active users and a missed opportunity to force app downloads on gift recipients. No deal was made.

Guusto is still operating and sells through its website.