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We make gift cards work like software.

Bidali connects businesses and people to 4,700+ gift card brands in 150+ countries, through one integration, an app and a storefront.

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Our mission

Safer, more inclusive commerce

Bidali (pronounced bee-DAH-lee) is Basque for “to send”. That is the whole idea: send value to anyone, anywhere, in a form they can spend.

We believe anyone with an internet connection should be able to buy from, sell to and reward people anywhere in the world, without needing a bank card to do it.

A gift card is the simplest way to hand someone the power to spend: groceries, rent-day essentials, a coffee, a game. We make gift cards behave like software, so a business can offer 4,700+ brands with a single integration and people can spend in the store they choose.

Our story

Eight years of gift cards

2018

Founded in Calgary

Co-founders Eric Kryski and Cory Smith start Bidali in Calgary.

Dec 2018

First blockchain gift cards

We launch our first blockchain gift cards with Enjin, an early test of transparent issuance.

Read the announcement

2019

Commerce SDK and new catalogs

Businesses can embed a gift card storefront in their own product, and we add UK and Australian catalogs.

Commerce SDK

2020

Bermuda pilot and regulatory leadership

We support the Bermuda digital currency pilot and join regulators and industry in shaping clear rules for the sector.

Bermuda recap

2021–2022

Gift cards first

We focus on what people actually spend: more brands, more countries and an app that puts one balance in your pocket.

2026

Bidali Issuing

Brands can issue their own gift cards on a network built to make them harder to drain and easier to track.

Bidali Issuing
Brands
4,700+
Countries
150+
Gift cards sold
$40M+
Founded
2018

Team

The founders

Bidali is led by two founders with decades of experience shipping payments, fintech and consumer software.

  • Eric Kryski

    Eric Kryski on LinkedIn

    CEO & Co-Founder

    Eric is a software developer, designer, and closet economist. He bootstrapped a successful product studio and co-created FeathersJS - a popular open source web framework used by 15k+ developers at startups, fortune 100s and in between.

  • Cory Smith

    Cory Smith on LinkedIn

    CTO & Co-Founder

    Cory is a software developer, previous startup CTO, and rap genius. He has one previous exit and one failure under his belt. Cory has been in both the enterprise and startup game and has built and shipped over 30 mobile and web applications.

Backers

Supported by some of Canada’s best

Investors, advisors and programs that have helped us grow from Calgary to the world.

Venture capital

  • Thin Air Labs

    Founded by James Lochrie, ThinAir Labs is a venture capital firm that invests in early-stage startups that can have global impact. They are known for their unique approach to incubating startups, which includes a focus on building a community of founders and investors, and getting their hands dirty with the founders they invest in.

  • Box One Ventures

    BoxOne Ventures is an early-stage investment firm founded by Josh Felker and Arvind Ramanathan who exited their high frequency trading firm Vigilant Global to DRW. Now they invest their own capital in entrepreneurs they believe in, pushing the boundaries of bio-tech, food, markets, longevity, intelligence and clean energy, giving them patience and flexibility to go from napkin to IPO.

Individual investors

Strategic advisors

Community supporters

  • Creative Destruction Lab

    Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) is a global startup program for seed-stage, science-based companies. The program employs an objectives-based mentoring process by a selected group of accomplished entrepreneurs, angel investors, economists, and scientists.

  • Alberta Innovates

    Alberta Innovates helps Alberta based businesses accelerate commercial development by providing access to world-class expertise and grants needed to commercialize innovative technologies.

  • Google

    We are grateful for the support of Google in our mission to build a more connected and open world through the Google for Startups program.

  • Government of Canada

    The Government of Canada has supported Bidali in our mission by providing commercialization and international expansion support.

Press

Writing about Bidali?

Boilerplate

Bidali is a gift card company. Founded in 2018 in Calgary, Canada, Bidali gives businesses and people access to gift cards from 4,700+ brands in 150+ countries through one integration, a mobile app and a storefront.

Logos and brand assets

Where we are

Headquartered in Calgary

Calgary, Alberta, Canada
#300 - 1550 5 St SW, Calgary, AB T2R 1K3, Canada
Get directions
The Calgary skyline on a clear day
Igor Kyryliuk on Unsplash

Careers

We are always glad to hear from thoughtful engineers, designers and operators who care about gift cards. Send us a note.

hello@bidali.com