CityPockets

CityPockets emerged in 2010 as a digital wallet and secondary marketplace catering to the burgeoning daily deals market. The New York-based startup was founded by Cheryl Yeoh and Jhony Fung, former classmates at Cornell University. Yeoh, who served as CEO, drew inspiration from her own experience of struggling to manage numerous vouchers purchased from various deal sites. She identified a genuine consumer pain point: the risk of financial loss from unused, expiring deals, which were becoming a new form of digital currency.

The company's core product was a free web service that allowed users to aggregate daily deal vouchers from over 50 platforms, including major players like Groupon and LivingSocial, into a single dashboard. This platform provided organization and sent users timely reminders before their vouchers expired. A significant feature, launched in April 2011, was a secondary marketplace enabling users to buy and sell their vouchers, effectively creating liquidity for these digital assets. The firm also developed iPhone and Android applications to facilitate mobile redemption. The business model was predicated on its utility to consumers overwhelmed by the daily deal craze, aiming to be the "mint.com and ebay for daily deals". The company secured total funding of $1.32 million over three rounds from investors including Great Oaks Venture Capital and 500 Startups.

Despite initial traction and media features, CityPockets faced existential challenges tied to the sustainability of the daily deal industry itself. When market leader Groupon disclosed significant accounting issues, the founders recognized the inherent risk of a business model entirely dependent on the stability of other companies. This led to the strategic decision to shut down CityPockets in 2012. The team then pivoted, using their expertise and resources to launch Reclip.It, a social catalog and list-making app for coupons and retail promotions that was later acquired by Walmart Labs in 2013.

Keywords: CityPockets, Cheryl Yeoh, Jhony Fung, daily deal aggregator, digital wallet, coupon marketplace, voucher management, secondary market, daily deals, Groupon, LivingSocial, Reclip.It, deal management, online coupons, voucher trading, startup pivot, Great Oaks Venture Capital, 500 Startups, consumer tech, e-commerce tool