The Okuru Story (so far)
The Original Vision
Making the world a more connected place
The idea for the Okuru app was born during the Covid pandemic. There was a need to simplify the way busy family members maintain loving connections with and sending gifts to loved ones overseas And if we could at the same time give small businesses the opportunity to expand their reach to buyers outside their traditional market reach, that would help small businesses thrive better during hard times.
These days there are many loved ones living apart. You know when we are preparing to congratulate a family member or friend living a distance away, buying and sending a gift can be a real problem. Due to lack of time, and high shipping costs since Covid began, giving gifts can be a daunting task.
What the Okuru App does is to provide a simpler and more effective way to connect with loved ones and send them well-meaning digital gift cards to be used locally as it integrates seamlessly with instant messaging platforms like Whatsapp, Messenger, Telegram, SMS text and email platforms like Outlook, Google all using your mobile device.
The Development Timeline
Mar 2020 – Covid lockdowns started to affect individuals and businesses like nothing before.
Apr to Jul 2020 – Noticed the disconnect of families kept apart and found many difficulties in buying and sending gifts to loved ones overseas. Started looking for gift cards sold online that I could purchase and gift to loved ones. Found that most gift card retailers only sell gift cards for use in a particular outlet and country. So if I wanted to buy a gift card for someone in another country, it will involve multiple steps in searching for a retailer in another country, checking if they have gift cards, purchasing it and then organising to send this by mail to my recipient.
Wanted badly to find a website or app that could allow me to purchase digital gift cards for use in various countries and with the ability to send these cards via instant messaging apps - making it a one stop shop that would save time, resources and minimise the use of plastics.
Slowly the idea of building an app began, that would enable small businesses to create their own digital gift cards and upload them to our app to sell to our customers. This would involve creating a B2B platform that would synch with a B2C platform to seamlessly enable ease of local and international digital card gifting via instant messaging apps all under one mobile platform.
Aug to Nov 2020 – Spoke to various app developers in the USA, UK, Australia, India, Singapore. Started to develop a project plan and project overview.
Dec 2020 – The festive season coupled with Covid lockdowns emphasised the need for such an app in order for families and loved ones to remain connected and at the same time help small businesses to continue doing business despite lockdowns.
Jan to Jun 2021 – Started searching for suitable app developers who understood our vision. Finalised project plan. Spoke to a few developers and eventually agreed to work with Appetiser Apps based in Melbourne to develop the prototype for the MVP.
Jul to Sep 2021 – Figma designs of MVP completed. Time to decide on actual MVP development. Spoke to a couple more app developers and finally decided to bring the project back to Perth as the proximity was deemed to be a crucial factor in development phase as there would be more involved experimenting, testing and face to face meetings. Online zoom meets just don’t cut it when there are major issues to resolve.
Oct 2021 – Engaged Xcepcion (Phil Bouwman & Craig Armour) as Project Consultants
Nov 2021 – Engaged BlueSky Digital Labs to prepare a Scoping Document on the Okuru App development project.
Jan 2022 – BlueSky Scoping Document completed and Quote received for app development (To be read in conjunction with the Addendum to the Quote).
Engaged MoonCreature as Branding and Video Consultant
Finalised asset protection strategies with tax accountants (MKG Partners)
Feb 2022 – Met up with Lee Carter (Elderton Group), Remi Rodari (JBC Corporate) and Roy Smith (Radium Capital) to discuss the R&D Tax Incentive Financing Scheme.
Mar 2022 – App development kick off by Ben & Josh of BlueSky Digital Labs
Apr 2022 – Radium Capital Financing approved and money received.
May 2022 – Various meetings with BlueSky Digital Labs to try to work around the Stripe payment gateway that is supposed to link the payment flow of funds from consumer to Okuru to retail business. BlueSky began working with xoxoday – a gift card wholesaler to test the Stripe payment platform.
Jun 2022 – Trademark application put through for the brand name “Okuru”. Business Insurance quotes sought from Delta Risk Insurance and Country Wide Insurance Brokers
Jul 2022 – Registration on RDTI portal. Working with Jeremy (Elderton Group) on the application form and record keeping of R&D supporting documents.
Sep 2022 – First draft of app released. Feedback was given to BlueSky who went on to implement changes.
Oct 2022 – Received R&D Grant from ATO. Repaid Radium Capital Financing.
Mar 2023 – MVP completed thus ended Phase 1 App Development Contract with BlueSky Digital. The digital assets handed over were the Consumer App, Retailer App, Admin Portal and Retailer Portal.
May 2023 – Phase 2 development contract was awarded to Velocity Software.
July 2023 –Velocity Software had to spend a few weeks recreating and understanding the Phase 1 work done by BlueSky Digital Labs.
Aug 2023 – Software bugs were identified and fixed in Phase 1 versions. Work started for Phase 2 improvements. Website launched and marketing activities began.
Current Day
So what is the the final version of Okuru all about then?
What if we told you ….
That there is a simpler and more effective way to connect with loved ones living far from you and to give them gifts of value with just a few clicks on your mobile phone?
Forget the peak season shopping rush and long queues and high worldwide shipping costs and delivery delays.
Stay connected with loved ones and friends with the Okuru app. You will be part of the worldwide effort to reduce plastic waste. You will be able to send digital gift cards to recipients currently in Australia and Singapore using less time and less stress. With more countries in the pipeline.
Give a thoughtful gift effortlessly. Strengthen family and friendship connections. Put a smile on someone’s face. Make their day.
Okuru is also a friend of small retailers. Think family owned cafes, restaurants, travel and experience tour operators, hair and beauty salons, spa and massage operators to name a few.
The Okuru platform is free for retailers to use to create gift cards to offer up for sale on the Okuru mobile app. When customers purchase a retailer’s gift card, the retailers will get 90% of the face value of the gift card sold.
We will also provide a free to use retailer app to make the redemption of customers purchases using gift cards a seamless experience.
Forget offering BOGO (Buy One Get One) or 25% discounted vouchers on other marketing platforms. And take advantage of the cash upfront value of the unspent value of gift cards.
Download the Okuru app at the Apple AppStore and Google PlayStore today!