This Chicago based tech startup lets you send messages, flowers and gifts to loved ones long after you’re gone.
CHICAGO, Feb. 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — CircleIt®, a futuristic technology that gives users the ability to send cards, media and gifts to loved ones across time, announced today it has surpassed 1 million downloads. While less than a year old, CircleIt is seeing a big surge in global demand. Since January 1, 2021, we have nearly tripled our user base with over 650,000 downloads in 167 countries.
Art Shaikh, CircleIt Founder, shares “today is truly a day for celebration; the technology that was inspired by my father’s gift of handmade cards left behind after his passing is now in the hands of families around the world.” Shaikh’s father passed away in 2012 and left letters, cards and gifts for him to deliver to family members on future holidays and occasions. It’s this unique sentiment that inspired Shaikh to launch CircleIt.
“With CircleIt, you can send cards to any future date and time. For example, I can schedule a card full of wisdom and well wishes to my 4-year-old niece for her future wedding day – possibly decades from now. All I have to do is select the occasion, even if I don’t know the actual date, and our smart technology will take care of the rest.”
This modern solution to legacy preservation has been well-received around the world. “Families have been finding their own ways of storing memories and preserving their heritage for generations,” says Shaikh, “I’ve had people contact me – saying how their family has an old chest of pictures, recipes, books, memorabilia and documents that go back years. And now they can ensure their family history continues to live on [digitally] for generations.” Shaikh adds “and with the addition of our future gifting functionality, you can order flowers and gifts to be delivered to your loved ones from beyond the grave.” From a mother with cancer crafting messages containing life-long advice to her young children to a grandfather with early onset Alzheimer’s scheduling messages and gifts to be delivered years down the road – the possibilities are endless.
Sending gifts and messages to loved ones from beyond the grave isn’t exactly new. Whether it’s a wife receiving flowers on Valentine’s Day each year after her husband’s passing, or a daughter getting flowers from her father years after he had passed, families have long looked for ways to connect with their loved ones after they’re gone. With CircleIt, there’s now a centralized place for people to preserve their memories and facilitate gift and flower deliveries for years to come, Shaikh said, which is something you can’t find from traditional social media and other communication platforms. “Every technology of today is bound by time. Everything is now, now, now. It’s for the likes,” he said. “There’s not a single technology out there to safeguard your legacy for generations.”
Through patented technology, CircleIt enables the creation and scheduling of chat messages, cards and physical gifts to be delivered at any future date. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Art Shaikh and his team have big plans for future releases of CircleIt. “We want our users to grow with us. Our goal is to become the global go-to platform for legacy planning, preservation and fulfillment.”
This one-million milestone comes in the wake of a recent press surge surrounding the Chicago-based startup’s unique solution to a global problem. Chicago Inno quotes Shaikh comparing CircleIt to a North American greeting card giant, “we’re [like] Hallmark for the 21st century.”[1] With media requests coming in daily, Shaikh has recently made appearances on various podcasts and radio networks such as the Dougy Center’s Grief Out Loud Podcast and Chicago-based WGN, continuing to tell his touching story and spread the gift of CircleIt to families around the world.
ABOUT CIRCLEIT
CircleIt, available in App Store and Google Play was inspired by the story of a unique gift left from beyond the grave. The family of CircleIt founder, Art Shaikh, was left with gifts from his father to be delivered after he passed. “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.”
CircleIt was built to replicate this unique gift he left behind for his family – a gift that continually reminds his family of his love and allows him to be there to celebrate milestones and inspire future generations even after he was gone. Shaikh shares that “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.”
CircleIt, founded in 2018, is a Chicago-based startup with 17 employees. The startup has raised $2 million to date, but Shaikh is in the process of raising a $15 million Series A round, which is likely to close in March. Shaikh previously worked at Salesforce, leaving the company in May to dedicate his life to delivering CircleIt to the world.
For more information, visit https://circleit.com/
Media Reference:
https://www.facebook.com/justcircleit/
https://www.instagram.com/justcircleit/?hl=en
Featured Video: https://youtu.be/Tx6aYt0sCR8
Contact Information:
Samantha Ruffolo
CircleIt
312.838.4948
hello@circleit.io