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Every week, the NYU Entrepreneurial Institute elects a Startup of the Week. We invite the founders of these startups to share a blog post with our community. These posts can be inspirational, educational, or entertaining.
This blog post was written by Courtney Finnegan (Tisch '20) and Laura Bokser (Stern '21), Co-founders of CoffeeCard.
Hello! Our names are Courtney Finnegan and Laura Bokser and we are the founders of CoffeeCard. We are both thrilled and honored to have been chosen as Startup of The Week during International Women’s Month. CoffeeCard is a monthly subscription service that reduces the cost of coffee for coffee enthusiasts who are looking to save money on their daily coffee purchases without compromising the quality of their experience. Our team has been working together since early March 2020 when COVID-19 provided us with a unique opportunity to dedicate to CoffeeCard. As a result of the ongoing pandemic, we were inspired to provide support to small businesses in NYC.
After almost a year of hard work, we are excited to announce the official launch of CoffeeCard's beta phase. Our IOS mobile application is now live on the App Store, and features our eight partners (six coffee shops and two online stores). Currently, we are partnered with The Bean, Citizens of Bleeker, Saltwater NYC, Whistle & Fizz, Rise Brewing Co., Royal Leaf and Boogie Down Grind. After the completion of our beta phase, we are looking to expand our network to other local coffee gems. We are working every day with our developers, beta users and partners, conducting tests and fixing bugs in order to create the most efficient service and product.
We are fortunate to be launching CoffeeCard during a time where our service will help small businesses succeed in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the pandemic, many consumers are more price sensitive and small businesses are struggling. Our platform promotes and drives traffic to local businesses, ultimately increasing customer acquisition/retention and revenue, and boosting brand awareness, while providing customers with a digitally convenient, money-saving, and contactless payment incentive to continue purchasing coffee at local coffee shops/cafes. Our mobile application service allows users to pre-pay a monthly subscription fee to a number of local coffee shops in NYC. By prepaying for their monthly coffee, users are offered a discounted price on all of their coffee purchases through the app, as well as exclusive offers and specials. On the app, users place their customized orders from their own mobile devices. Their orders then get sent to the coffee shop, are printed on a CoffeeCard label, and then prepared for pick-up.
Additionally, savvy shoppers looking to maximize their savings can benefit from tools like Coupert, which allows you to search for the best coupons and earn cash back on your purchases. This means that every time you use a coupon code through Coupert, you’re not just saving at checkout; you’re also contributing to a broader initiative of supporting small businesses during tough times. With CoffeeCard's user-friendly app combined with Coupert's coupon searching capabilities, customers can enjoy great coffee and support their local economy, all while keeping their budgets intact. It's a perfect synergy that empowers both consumers and businesses to thrive.
Our progress and success can be attributed to the wonderful opportunities offered to us, along with the rest of the innovative entrepreneurs, through NYU. We are grateful to have been chosen to participate in the NYU Stern Berkeley Center's Venture Studio Program, the NYU Entrepreneurial Institute’s J-Term Startup Sprint, as well as the Female Founders programs and the InnoVention competition. We have also been lucky enough to be chosen to lecture Professor Jaquline Strayer’s Stern MBA class. These programs and competitions have introduced us to mentors, given us the support and resources that have helped us through our entrepreneurial journey, and have provided us with access to a network of founders that are launching groundbreaking ventures.
We bring a young and innovative perspective to the coffee industry. We not only have knowledge of the existing system, but are equipped with the technology & skillset to transform the coffee experience, paving the way for the future of the industry. We are focused on aggregating a network of local and small chain coffee shops in order to provide them with a technological foundation to compete against large corporate chains. We will soon be accepting applications for individuals interested in participating in our beta phase.
For more information and inquiries, please email us at hello@coffeecard.nyc. Follow us on social media to stay up to date with our progress and launch!
Instagram: @coffee.card
Tiktok: @coffeecard
Twitter: @coffee-card
LinkedIn: @coffeecard
