Afloat, a gift delivery app that lets you shop locally and have gifts delivered to loved ones the same day, is now available across the U.S. The startup announced Monday that it’s expanding the service nationwide, after it was previously only available in select cities, including Atlanta, Dallas, Charleston, Fort Worth, Kansas City, Nashville and Wichita.
The startup was founded by Sarah Allen Preston after experiencing the stress of newborn heart surgery and receiving thoughtful gifts from loved ones, and wanted to make it possible for anyone to give gifts instantly to support loved ones in need, even if they live in another state.
“But looking back on that experience, strangely, I don’t remember any stress or heartache. All I remember is people showing up for me and how cared for and supported I felt… so I decided to spread that feeling out into the world through technology,” she told TechCrunch.
Afloat aims to offer the convenience of online shopping and instant delivery while supporting local businesses without having to leave your home. Afloat handles the entire gift-giving process, including wrapping the gift and adding a handwritten note. (Preston says this is more thoughtful than receiving a typed Amazon receipt.) DoorDash drivers will take care of the delivery portion.
After the pandemic, many customers realized the value of local stores. About 40% of small businesses were forced to close during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2021. The desire to shop at small businesses remains strong. A recent survey by Intuit found that 62% of respondents said they would prefer to buy from local small businesses. E-commerce giants are also tapping into this mindset, such as Etsy’s new gifting initiative, which features a curated gift guide spotlighting independent shop owners.
The app currently works with 100 store partners, ranging from bakeries and baby stores to bookstores, florists, traditional gift shops, jewelers, etc. The company says the app has helped its store partners increase gift sales by 30-50%.
The company is now moving to a SaaS (software as a service) model to allow more stores, including other verticals such as spas, to join the platform. Afloat offers subscription plans for $99 per month (Gold) and $299 per month (Platinum), which include a newly released dashboard that provides stores with marketing and merchandising support, sales data, and other useful features.
“We’re really happy that we don’t have to launch into a strict market anymore. We can offer SaaS anywhere, anywhere,” Preston said.
Additionally, the company is building a subscription tier for consumers that will give them access to premium features such as scheduling deliveries and being notified when new gift offers become available.
Afloat currently has over 30,000 users and is backed by Goodwater Capital and Techstars with over $5 million in total funding.
