New Innovators: GoLolly

"Birthday gift shopping for kids can be a massive logistical headache despite all the advances in technology that are supposed to have made the planning of celebrations run more smoothly," says Heather Kennedy founder of newly launched financial platform, GoLolly, that allows "tweens" (8-12 year olds) to save, spend and share cash gifts online.

The idea behind GoLolly is to spare parents the hassle of gift shopping for other children. The platform is supported by PayPal and works through parents, mainly mothers, inviting each other to join.

“It’s usually the mom who buys the party gifts and with three kids that could be 60 gifts a year at €15 or €20 a go. Yet research shows that only one per cent of gifts are still in use six months after a party,” Kennedy says.

“GoLolly allows parents and kids (with parental oversight at all stages) to set up an online fund and invite their party guests to contribute to it,” she adds. “For mums, it’s a solution to another of life’s problems. For kids, it’s a way to get stuff they really want. For guests it’s a way to give a gift that’s always appreciated. For brands it’s a COPPA (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act) compliant advertising and sales channel.”

Kennedy says that GoLolly is “aimed at kids that are “too old for toys and too young for boys. Technology has changed kids’ expectations when it comes to gifts,” she says. “They want iPods and iPads - things that are too expensive for one person to buy. With GoLolly they can save up.”

It was the problem of buying gifts for 15 nieces and nephews living as far afield as Australia that sparked the idea for GoLolly in Kennedy's mind. Before founding the company in 2013, Kennedy worked at a senior level in the software and creative services industries with a particular focus on digital communications.

Despite being an Enterprise Ireland mentor for high potential start-ups, Kennedy opted to do an accelerator programme to satisfy potential investors. "I noticed that accelerators were becoming a hygiene issue because surviving one means the promoter has been through the hoops on their business plan, marketing, sales and finance," she says. "It also seemed to matter where someone had done their accelerator. The National Digital Research Centre is highly regarded internationally and I was happy to compete for a place on its Launch Pad programme. During the programme we built our beta platform on a shoestring budget of €50,000 collected from family and friends."

GoLolly will be available in Ireland but Kennedy's target markets are countries with big tween populations such as the US with 23m and China with over 215m. The company's route to market is through partnering with well-established players in the children's party sector that provide everything from invitations to goody bags online.

"The one element that has not made the digital transition is gifting. That's where we come in," she says. "Strategic partnering with companies and people is central to our competitive advantage. For example, our board member Joe Rosenbaum was senior counsel to American Express for 17 years and is now global chair of advertising technology and media law practice, Reed Smith. There are dozens of start-ups in the States vying for the attention of someone like him and we are already at the table having the conversations we need to have. "

GoLolly employs seven people and expects to double in size over the next year. The company wants to raise €750,000 to accelerate its growth and to add a shopping function. Currently it only accepts cash gifts and users have to move off site to spend their money. Kennedy’s aim is to bring key retailers on to the GoLolly site. Heather Kennedy founder of newly launched financial platform, GoLolly