This shopping app wants to go global. But first, it needs Aussie men

afr.com:

Sisters Julie Stevanja and Sali Sasi had a hunch that an app targeting women like themselves offering exclusive deals and even cashback on high-end fashion purchases would be a success.

But two years in they discovered a fatal flaw: blokes want discounts too, but have not been inclined to sign up to a service called Her Black Book.

So Sasi, a “born shopper”, and Stevanja, the former Young Rich Lister behind now-defunct online retailer Stylerunner, will use a fresh $1.8 million in equity funding from investors including Afterpay’s Touch Ventures to relaunch the business on Thursday as Wrapd.ai, in a bid to get more male customers and reach an international audience.

“From the very beginning, men have shopped with us,” says Stevanja. “When we first started we asked our husbands to have a go with the app, and they actually made purchases.”

Sali Sasi and her sister Julie Stevanja have relaunched their shopping app, Her Black Book, as Wrapd. The idea? To attract more male customers, and a global audience.  Oscar Colman

“But,” says Sasi, “we were hearing from a lot of men that the app sounded like a dating service.”

About 10 per cent of the app’s users are male, a number that rose with offers from brands such as luxury carmaker Porsche and financial services giant Citibank.

“We want to be gender-agnostic and open up to a broader audience, and that will be of great benefit to our retailers, too,” Stevanja says.

Other investors in the round include former NAB banker Andrew Hagger, who also recently ran the Forrest family investment vehicle Tattarang, and Islero Capital chief executive Samantha van Gelder.

The app previously raised about $4 million, but attracting investors to the most recent round was a challenge, Sasi says.

“It