In 2010, we discovered that Patrick Ledbetter and Adam Ludwig started a company called Gift Real, in 2008.
They raised over $1M and had a gift credit business starting and patent filed. A news article from December 2008 called Gift Real "Drinking 2.0," but we thought they were onto a concept and business that could be the next generation gift card.
Sadly, they were 10 years ahead of their time and they went under.
So, Tom and I partnered with Patrick and Adam, and worked to complete the patents under a company we eventually called GiftYa.
At the time, I was still very focused on GiftCards.com and I thought the concept was too far ahead of its time, so I did not launch the product.
