CircleIt Closes Series A Funding Round With $5.1 Million

CircleIt®, a futuristic technology that gives users the ability to send cards, media and gifts to loved ones across time, announced today it has secured $5.1M in series A funding. This series A round is driven by CircleIt founder Art Shaikh with participation from TeleSoft Partners, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm led by Arjun Gupta, and private investor Connor Crown. To date, TeleSoft has raised over $1 billion in capital and invested in 100+ technology companies and is eager to help CircleIt soar to new heights. 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 destined to change the lives 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 build CircleIt. With this series A funding, Shaikh plans to expand CircleIt aggressively. “We’ve been working together as a team remotely for about a year and a half,” shares Shaikh, “and we’re excited to get our CircleIt family together under one roof.” The new global headquarters is located in the bustling river north area of downtown Chicago and already buzzing with excitement as Shaikh and his team prepare for the release of some new features in the near future. CircleIt app has been downloaded more than 3 million times in 167 countries. With the much-anticipated Q3 release of their patented child accounts and SmartCards, they expect to reach 10 million members by Q1 of 2022. CircleIt’s upcoming child accounts will let family and friends send children advice, memories, accolades and more in the form of cards, photos, videos and voice recordings – all to be stored and preserved for when they’re ready. Also in the pipeline are first-of-its-kind SmartCards that enable members to send cards and gifts to future events without ever knowing the date. With cutting edge AI technology, grandparent’s can schedule the delivery of a sentimental card for their young granddaughter’s wedding day – 20 years (or more) down the road. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Since the release of their platform’s physical gift delivery feature, CircleIt has seen a rapid increase in demand for flower and gift orders. “We recently released a physical gift store within our platform,” shares Shaikh, “so members can order gifts to be delivered to any future date – even years down the road.” With 2,700+ orders since its launch in July of 2021, this new feature is sure to be a game-changer. Currently, ordering gifts within CircleIt is only available within the United States with a global launch planned for the near future. Shaikh adds, “we want our members to grow with us. Our goal is to become the global go-to platform for legacy planning, preservation and fulfillment.” 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.