What the business is
An app for buying digital gold with weekly prize draws; it earned 3% commission via partner Augmont
The bet
Users will buy digital gold on a platform that spends a third of its commission on weekly prize draws, a prize-linked savings model that drives acquisition and retention
Starting capital
₹71 lakh from 100X.VC and angels, raised in 2022 for the founders' first startup, SPAC
How it started
Parth Shah and Yaagni Raolji started GoldPe in Ahmedabad on April 1, 2023, using ₹71 lakh they had secured in 2022 from 100X.VC and angels for their first startup. The app let users invest in digital gold and join a prize-linked savings scheme.
What happened
GoldPe earned a 3% commission selling digital gold with integrated gold player Augmont, and used a third of that revenue to fund weekly prize draws. Shah says investors liked the idea, but with only ₹1.5 lakh of revenue in a year it could not raise more. The founders planned to add fixed and recurring deposits after reaching 5 lakh users, which they thought would attract more regulation.
How it ended up
Shah told Inc42 GoldPe would cease to exist on April 1, 2024, one year after inception, with a smooth transition for users. The cofounders planned to sell their prize-linked savings tech stack, which could help repay investors, and offer the reward system to other companies.
What has to be true
A third of commission revenue went to prizes, leaving too little to run the business
Annual revenue of ₹1.5 lakh could not attract new funding after the initial ₹71 lakh ran out
Shah feared prize-linked savings could be brought under India's gambling laws
What can be applied
Shah's own diagnosis: a model focused solely on rewarding users could not generate enough revenue, and consumer lending, the obvious fix, was not a direction they wanted.
Aftermath
As of March 27, 2024 GoldPe was set to close on April 1, 2024, with the founders seeking to sell or license its reward technology.
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