Chicago-based startup CircleIt wants to help your loved ones live forever, or at least ensure their memory does. It has created a generational platform that allows people to record family history, store important memories and send cards and gifts to people far in the future. On Thursday, CircleIt announced that it secured $5.1 million in Series A funding.
Founder Art Shaikh came up with the idea for CircleIt after his dad passed away. But before his death, Shaikh’s father put together a box of memorabilia that he collected for his family.
“My father left us a box full of handmade cards, treasured memories, meaningful trinkets, candid stories and cultivated wisdom — meant to be shared among family and stored for future generations,” Shaikh said in a statement. “CircleIt was built for my mother to help carry on his legacy. Built so that others can experience the joy it has given all of us. Built in memory of my father, Arif Shaikh.”
The CircleIt platform helps other families pass down stories and traditions the same way Shaikh’s father did. The company has created a secure platform that lets people store memories — whether that’s a photo, a video, a note or an audio recording — and share them with their loved ones. It also allows people to send digital greeting cards to loved ones, or schedule a card to be sent in the future (like for a young grandchild’s college graduation years from now). On top of that, people can use CircleIt to send physical gifts — like a bouquet of flowers or gift basket — for any future date. Want to ensure your spouse gets flowers on your anniversary even when you’re gone? CircleIt can make that happen.
The CircleIt app has been downloaded over three million times across 167 countries since the company was founded in 2018. But the company expects to hit 10 million downloads by Q1 2022.
The company says it has seen rapid growth since it released its physical gift sending feature in July of 2021, with more than 2,700 orders so far. The company also expects further growth with the upcoming release of its child accounts, which allows families to send sentimental notes or memories to children, and its upcoming SmartCards feature, which lets people send cards for specific events even if they don’t know the date (like for a grandchild’s wedding).
This Series A will allow CircleIt to “expand aggressively” ahead of these future updates. The company has a handful of open roles listed on its site, which will help grow the 21-person team. CircleIt also recently moved into a new Chicago headquarters in River North.
“We’ve been working together as a team remotely for about a year and a half,” Shaikh said in a statement. “and we’re excited to get our CircleIt family together under one roof.”
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