DISCO

DISCO is the first platform powering memberships at local businesses.

  • Stage Full Product Ready
  • Industry Software
  • Location New York, NY, US
  • Currency USD
  • Founded September 2015
  • Employees 6
  • Website thediscoapp.com

Company Summary

DISCO is a full-service platform powering membership programs for local businesses.

The DISCO mobile app handles customer purchases and redemption of membership passes. The DISCO website (or “DISCOvery portal”) features exclusive and curated content about DISCO businesses - fostering an emotional connection between the customer and the business.

Our basic business model is a 10% commission on every sale. This has been validated in the market and is highly profitable.

We see huge opportunities for the future in providing added value for our merchants with additional features and opening up our membership platform to a wider range of businesses. These added features and services will be subject to a monthly/yearly subscription fee for merchants to use.

Before DISCO there was Pass. Before Pass there was Check.it. Check.it was an app that integrated with restaurant POS systems, putting the live bill on an app on the patron’s phone, enabling them and their fellow diners to simply pay for and split a bill by tapping the items and paying through their phone. Quick and easy, Check.it was a grat consumer solution, but the team did not fully understand the realities of the restaurant industry, payments space and working with small-businesse owners.

The tough lessons learned are what led to the development of Pass. Chris’s existing Angel investors from Check.it allowed him to invest the remaining money in the pursuit of Pass. Pass was a dead simple and straightforward payment/loyalty solution for local businesses - simple memberships. Pass got people paying ahead for their next 10, 20 or month worth of visits. With package and subscription memberships businesses would get up-front cash from locked in customers. Several Boston businesses signed up for Pass before there was even a product ready. After the beta-launch, every customer who bought a Pass went on to rebuy and the merchant feedback was excellent.

The Boston market isn’t very big or tech savvy so Chris looked to NYC as where to focus development of the business. While practical and simple, Pass was a proof of concept and never intended to be the true brand. In a survey of existing customers Chris found that Pass customers valued the speed and simplicity of the service, and the support it gave to the local business they loved, above any cost savings it provided.

It took quite sometime and many bad ideas to be thrown out but eventually Chris stumbled upon DISCO as the new brand. DISCO is about helping people DISCOver places they will love, getting them DISCOunts when they buy a pass. There is no other app/service like DISCO. Unique in name and unique in brand. DISCO is a highly curated network of the best local businesses in areas around NYC.

DISCO is more of a lifestyle brand than any other business in the payment space. We develop relationships with the best content creators and news sites and work with the best local businesses.

Team

  • Founder and CEO

    Local business and mobile payment expert.
    Head salesman.
    Chief Morale Officer.

  • VP Business Development

    Merchant acquisition. Customer engagement.

Advisors

  • Phil Beauregard
    Unconfirmed
    Ara Ohanian
    Unconfirmed
    Maria van Vlodrop
    Unconfirmed

Previous Investors

  • Ara Ohanian
    Unconfirmed
    Maria van Vlodrop
    Unconfirmed
    John Gillespie
    Unconfirmed
  • Kenneth Fung
    Unconfirmed
    Sheryl Turney
    Unconfirmed
    Bill Turney
    Unconfirmed

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