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Wouldn’t it be great if you could turn every retail visit into an opportunity for social good?
Two women are on a mission to make this the case with a new app: Beam – Impact, an iOS app available for free download in the App Store. The social impact app reinvigorates retail by meaningfully engaging consumers with partner brands such as Pinkberry, Think Coffee, Dig Inn and many others.
Utilizing industry-leading proximity technology and push notifications, the Beam Impact app empowers people to donate to causes they care about by visiting retailers they love.
The app was co-founded and developed by CEO Viveka Hulyalkar, a former McKinsey & Company consultant, and CTO Alexandra Salvatore, previously an iOS developer at Tinder.
A pilot partner of Foursquare’s Pilgrim SDK, Beam automatically sends users a push notification when they visit partner brands’ retail locations. Users can then open the notification to view a list of four retailer-supported nonprofits and choose one they care about, directing the retailer to make a small (5-25¢) donation to the chosen non-profit on their behalf. The app’s “Impact” screen makes it easy for users to track their impact and see it increase towards a tangible goal, like funding a book for a girl in Ethiopia.
Today we’ll be joined by Viveka Hulyalkar and hear how she became passionate about social impact. How is the app reinvigorating retail by engaging consumers who are eager to support brands with a shared commitment to charitable causes? And what is in store down the road for Beam and its users?