Grouptogether

GroupTogether operates an online platform that lets a group create a shared digital greeting card and, optionally, pool money toward a single gift. An organiser selects a card design, receives a personalised link, and shares it by email, messaging app, Slack, Teams or social media; participants sign the card with unlimited-length messages, photos and GIFs, and can chip in a set amount, any amount, or sign without contributing. Contributions are not routed through the organiser's personal bank account, and contributors' individual amounts are hidden from the rest of the group. The finished card can be emailed at a scheduled date and time or downloaded as a PDF to print.

Collected funds are spent in the company's gift store on eGift Cards, flowers, plants, hampers and experiences, or on the "AnyCard" — a GroupTogether credit the recipient can swap for one or more retailer eGift Cards from a catalogue of over 150 brands in the US and 100+ in Australia. The AnyCard is valid for three years, with a further three years to spend the retailer eGift Card once redeemed. In Australia organisers may also withdraw funds to a personal bank account for a flat 2% fee or donate a portion to charity; cash withdrawal is not offered in the US. The company also sells bulk eGift Cards, allowing an organiser to upload a spreadsheet and send between 1 and 1,000 eGift Cards with a personalised greeting card attached.

The product requires no app, account for contributors, or organisational subscription. Payments are handled by external processors — checkout.com in Australia and Stripe in the US — with two-factor authentication on each collection; first-time US organisers must complete Stripe identity verification. The service is presented for personal occasions (birthdays, babies, weddings, sympathy, graduation), school contexts (teacher and coach thank-yous) and workplace use (farewells, retirements, work anniversaries, employee appreciation).

Founding story

Best friends Julie Tylman and Ali Linz created GroupTogether in 2015 after experiencing the logistical burden of organising gifts during the children's birthday party circuit, and sought a way to give better with less waste. Linz had roughly two decades of marketing experience at Unilever, McDonald's and agency DDB Sydney; Tylman holds an MBA from Columbia and had worked in IT consulting in New York and as an equity analyst at Merrill Lynch in San Francisco before the pair started the company.

Business model

Transactional consumer and workplace service. Users pay per card or per collection rather than by subscription, and the company sits between contributors and a network of retail gift card partners whose products are purchased with the pooled funds.

Revenue comes from per-card fees and transaction fees. In Australia a standalone Group Card costs A$5.50 and contributors pay a 1.8% service fee; organising a card plus gift collection is free when at least A$20 is collected and spent in the gift store, while withdrawing collected funds to a bank account carries a flat 2% fee. In the US the Group Card is $5.50 including tax and fees and is free when a collection of $20 or more is added; there are no extra fees on the AnyCard or most retailer eGift Cards, but a 2% fee applies to Amazon, Target and Walmart eGift Cards.

Traction

The company's site cites over 5 million happy customers and use in more than 8,000 Australian companies. Earlier coverage reported over 1 million Australian users, later more than 1.5 million users overall, a US launch in January that reached 250,000 US users, more than $16 million in gifts facilitated in Australia in one financial year, a contribution made every 30 seconds in Australia, and 4,500 users at Westpac growing 20% per quarter.

Latest developments

The company promotes a bulk eGift Card capability for sending 1 to 1,000 eGift Cards from an uploaded recipient spreadsheet, each accompanied by a personalised greeting card and a digital unwrapping experience, and reports a US catalogue of more than 150 retailer eGift Cards alongside the AnyCard.