Brighton-based tech startup Prsnt has raised $290K in early funding to expand its gifting app that helps consumers celebrate friendships in an immediate and exciting new way.

Available on the App Store and Google Play Store, the company’s ‘mini-gifting concept involves sending affordable, meaningful gifts redeemable from shops, cafés, pubs or online retailers – all for the same price as a birthday card and a stamp.

Prsnt has partnered with more than 100 of the UK’s most-loved high-street brands, including  Costa Coffee, Amazon, The Body Shop, Nike, Deliveroo, Red Letter Days, All Bar One, Spotify and many more. This means that no matter who the recipient is, the gifted will be able to find a great gift for that special person.

“What we’re trying to achieve is a modern way of gifting, removing all the bottlenecks in terms of hassle while also addressing sustainability. We achieve same-second delivery, so it’s perfect for a friend’s or family member’s birthday or you don’t want the delay of sending something in the post,” said ,” said Omid Moallemi, Co-Founder, Prsnt.

The app reminds users when their friends’ birthdays are, and lets them send a gift – perhaps a coffee or glass of wine – and a personal video message straight to their phone when they can’t be there with them in-person to celebrate.

Once the recipient has received their gift, they can redeem it from their local outlet or online, removing a huge geographical barrier to gift sending and receiving that currently exists for most people.

Prsnt Co-Founders Omid Moallemi and David Parr were working as Co-Directors of a marketing and design agency when they began developing Prsnt. They share a co- working space in Brighton’s North Laine with technology developer Hamish Page, marketeer Louis Wren, and IT specialist Dan Hamilton of Source 3 Media. The two teams joined forces to combine their diverse skill sets and build Prsnt in September 2019.

In March 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic served as a catalyst for the Prsnt team to pivot their efforts to developing the app full time. By June 2020, the app had received an initial round of seed investment and the final months of 2020 saw the app gain its initial test market through peer-to-peer referrals.

Likewise, if lockdown restrictions were to return, Prsnt has enormous potential for helping people stay connected with digital mini-gifts that can be redeemed from online retailers.

Marty Berman joins Admix as VP Sales US and LATAM

Admix, the pioneering In-Play advertising platform that bridges the gap between gaming and advertising, announces the appointment of senior advertising industry leader Marty Berman as VP of Sales for North America and LATAM.

Berman’s appointment signals the latest phase of Admix’s 2021 US growth strategy, which will see the experienced teambuilder spearhead a major talent acquisition drive across the US, with Q3 and Q4 hires planned for New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles. The Chicago native will work closely with Michael Silberberg, Admix’s New York-based VP of Global Partnerships.

He joins Admix with over two decades of media and advertising industry experience, having held senior leadership roles at global organizations such as InMobi, Integrate Marketing, NBC Internet, Triad and Monster, with key accounts including American Family Insurance, United Airlines, GMC and Progressive Insurance.

The gaming industry is at a tipping point following the change in consumer habits accelerated by Covid-19, which accelerated gaming’s mainstream cultural awareness and hypergrowth.

Consumers now spend more time gaming than they do on social media, creating both an opportunity and a challenge for brands to reach the three billion active gamers globally given the intrusiveness of many gaming advertising formats. Admix’s proprietary rendering technology has been engineered from the ground up, to insert demanding ad creatives into any 3D environment.

Marty Berman, VP Sales for North America and LATAM, commented:

“As demand increases exponentially to buy gaming inventory programmatically, Admix is in the lead position to deliver a solution to the Northern America and LATAM markets that solve the major barriers of scale to reach this elusive audience. Reaching the gaming audience via In Play media will continue to grow rapidly given its non-intrusive nature and the ability to automate the process programmatically, properly target, measure and prove ROI.”

Announcing the hire, Samuel Huber, CEO at Admix, commented:

“ Marty is a critical hire who will help Admix communicate the significant benefits of In-Play advertising, and he will also be instrumental in building our boots on-the-ground team across the East Coast, West Coast and Midwest.”

Over the last year, Admix has experienced hypergrowth with an 800% revenue increase driven by unprecedented inbound and direct sales, and expects to double in size from 40 to 100 staff this year.