Wishround, a Ukrainian startup which has developed an advanced social commerce solution, became resident of the British acceleration program Wayra, managed by telecom-operator Telefonica.
The startup will receive £34,000 under the condition of convertible note, an office in London for eight months, mentoring, and access to investors, reports Ukrainian tech blog AIN.UA.
In addition, Wayra is making a program in cooperation with British online-store ASOS this year. This means that three selected projects for the program will gain access to ASOS’ infrastructure for pilot-projects and mentoring support. The accelerator plans to bring three projects from the program to operational breakeven and to help close a funding round of one million euros or more by the end of the program, according to AIN.UA.
Presenting itself as “Europe’s number one friends fund-raising platform,” Wishround enables group payments via social networks. After filling in information about the gift they would like to get for their birthday, users post their wish on Facebook and Twitter, or share a link inviting their friends to financially contribute to the purchase.
If there’s a shortfall, the person can add more money. If the person chose a gift from one of Wishround’s partnering web-stores, the purchases can be made on the Wishround site.
This past spring Wishround was distinguished in the Ukrainian Startup Rating, which highlights the country’s most promising tech projects. In February, the startup won third prize at SVOD Europe.
In Ukraine, the platform’s income is growing by about 20% every month, according to AIN.UA, which cites company data. The project was launched in Poland, not as successfully as anticipated for the moment, for various reasons – from overestimation of the market to difficulties in translation.
