LuxyList is a creator gift platform that allows fans to send physical gifts to content creators while maintaining privacy and security for both parties. At its core, it is a personal shopping service that manages everything from purchases to delivery and returns. 

Catering to a diverse range of content creators, from micro-influencers to major personalities, LuxyList boasts an impressive average gift value of $250. While most gifts fall within this range, there have been occasions where gifts exceeded $25,000, showcasing the platform’s potential for truly luxurious giving.

LuxyList is constantly forging partnerships with established and emerging brands and exploring sophisticated features to enhance user experience.

As the company launches its StartEngine campaign, founder Shantel Evans, a former rocket launcher turned tech innovator, shares with us how LuxyList went from its word-of-mouth beginnings to its AI-powered future and explains her vision for democratizing both creator support and startup investment.

The New Celebrity Next Door

A former Air Force veteran who worked on rocket launches at Cape Canaveral and with the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force, Shantel pivoted to the tech sector after stints in medical school and modeling.

LuxyList, Shantel’s brainchild, tackles privacy concerns in the creator economy by effortlessly facilitating fan gifting without compromising personal information. 

The platform’s genesis stems from her experiences, including a safety scare with a fan at her P.O. box and observing her daughter’s engagement with social media personalities. 

“I witnessed the influence these kids have over each other; my daughter once spent $100 gifting a creator during a live stream,” she recalls. Not only did she spend $100, but the creator’s home address was also compromised in the process.”

Shantel recognized that existing gifting options, such as Amazon wishlists or P.O. boxes, didn’t adequately address privacy concerns or offer the flexibility creators needed. She saw an opportunity to create a platform allowing fans to express their appreciation through gifts while maintaining boundaries.

“Content creators have become the celebrity next door,” Shantel explains. There’s a need for that boundary for privacy — even if you’re an online personality.”

LuxyList allows fans to purchase gifts from any website, with a personal shopper handling the logistics. The service has gained traction among micro-influencers, who Shantel notes are “already heavily connected to their fan base despite such a tiny sphere.”

Shantel remains committed to establishing meaningful connections between creators and their audiences as the platform grows. “We’ve just given people the ability to express that love,” she tells us.

From Wish Lists to Reality

Shantel’s LuxyList bridges creators and their audiences, offering a secure and personalized gifting experience.

“LuxyList is exactly what the name says,” Shantel explains. “We’re a luxury list, but not a luxury in the sense of just Gucci, Cartier, or Van Cleef. Luxury means something different for everyone.”

The process is straightforward: creators sign up for free, with ease, then add desired items to their list, and share the link with followers. Fans can then purchase gifts without accessing the creator’s personal information. 

“No one ever sees your address,” Shantel stresses. “No one ever needs to know where you live.”

LuxyList handles all aspects of the gifting process, from order processing to delivery and returns. “We’re like gifting elves. Personal shoppers,” Shantel quips. The company prides itself on efficiency, with gift processing times down to three days or less.

As a Black woman leading a tech company, Shantel is acutely aware of the challenges in upholding diversity in the industry. 

“We have to work harder as women, as women of color, to be able to have the same voice, have the same platform,” she notes. This perspective shapes her approach to building LuxyList, prioritizing inclusive hiring practices, and networking with other women in tech.

Shantel sees her unique position as an advantage: “When you’re different, you walk into a room, and everyone’s like, ‘Who’s she?’ So it’s like the automatic icebreaker that gives you a chance to say, ‘I am that girl.’”

StartEngine Campaign: User-Centric Fundraising and Expansion

Shantel is diving into fundraising with the launch of the company’s StartEngine campaign. Unlike traditional venture capital routes, she engages her platform’s existing user base as potential investors.

“If we’re going to be taking money, it might as well be from the people who already get it and have some views about how this whole thing works,” Shantel explains. 

The entrepreneur believes that user-investors are more likely to align with the company’s vision, unlike VCs, who “may want to see certain things that don’t align with where you want the company to go.” VCs have expressed a lot of interest, and discussions are always ongoing.

To communicate the value of investing in LuxyList, Shantel is leveraging personal video messages over traditional email campaigns. 

“A video from the founder about why she wants you to invest, why we want you to be part of it, and what I want to do speaks volumes,” she says.

The campaign also serves as a platform to introduce LuxyList to untapped creator segments. Shantel sees potential in diverse communities, such as drag performers and pet influencers.

“There is a space for drag queens on LuxyList because they are fierce, love fashion, and have fans sending them all kinds of stuff,” she notes.

Harnessing User Insights

As LuxyList gears up for its 2.0 launch, Shantel is leveraging the StartEngine campaign to gather crucial user feedback. As she points out, the company’s approach to user feedback is inspired by Netflix’s early days. 

Shantel recounts advice from a Netflix co-founder about focusing on users who give middling scores: “What can we do to get them to the next stage?” With that mindset, she plans to fine-tune her platform based on actionable insights.

Shantel is particularly interested in gifting trends, an area with limited existing data. “There’s relatively zero out there about creator gifts from fans and followers,” she notes.

To this point, LuxyList tracks various metrics, including geographical popularity (with the U.S. and Canada leading), age demographics, and popular gift categories. The data is compelling.

One striking statistic is LuxyList’s average gift value of $250, significantly higher than typical tipping amounts on other platforms. 

Shantel views this as a “game-changer” for influencer marketing: “When creators have brands on their LuxyList, they genuinely want those products. 

She believes it’s true brand love, often missing in today’s influencer marketing dominated by paid sponsorships. 

“You can’t always tell if your favorite influencer actually loves a product or if they’re just getting paid to say so,” Shantel adds. “More importantly, physical gifts are emerging as the new way to tip!”

AI-Powered Gifting and Enhanced Creator-Fan Connections

Shantel is exploring AI-powered features to streamline the gifting process and deepen creator-fan relationships. 

Recognizing the challenges creators face in maintaining wish lists, Shantel envisions an AI tool to make personalized gift suggestions based on a creator’s preferences and past gifts. According to her, this innovation would solve a common problem: creator fatigue in curating wish lists. 

The potential impact of such a feature extends beyond convenience and is now being worked on.

Shantel highlights how gifting has enabled creators to elevate their content: “We’ve had conversations with some of our LuxyListers who have told us this is how they were able to level up their content.”

She cites examples of fans gifting equipment like GoPros for specific content ideas, demonstrating how gifting can drive engagement and content creation. 

It is not unusual for expensive cameras and lighting gear to be gifted. Each creator has different gift requirements that can be individualized on the Luxylist platform.

“You’re giving your fans exactly what they want because they’re telling you, ‘I’m going to gift you this trip with this stuff so that we can see this crazy thing you’ve been talking about,'” Shantel says.

Organic Growth and Strategic Partnerships

LuxyList’s growth — processing in two short years over $2.5 million in gifts with a community of 10,000 creators and fans — has been achieved primarily through word-of-mouth marketing. 

Shantel attributes this success to the platform’s ability to fill crucial industry gaps such as privacy and engagement.

The company’s initial invite-only model created a buzz, with 20-50 daily signup requests despite limited marketing efforts.

LuxyList plans to scale forward by attending influencer events and directly engaging with potential users. 

“That’s important to me,” Shantel reveals, highlighting the value of personal connections in the industry.

Brand partnerships play a dual role in LuxyList’s strategy. While the platform takes a 15% commission on orders, partnerships with established and emerging brands provide users with more options and boost the company’s bottom line. 

“We like supporting small, up-and-coming [brands]. Again, I’m a small business owner, so I love seeing up-and-coming fashion brands,” Shantel explains.

Integration with social media platforms is another key focus. Shantel imagines a future where gifting is effortlessly integrated into live streams and interactive TV experiences. 

“It would be awesome to partner with [streaming] platforms and just have a gift button,” she says, deeming physical gifting “the new tipping” in the digital space.

Democratizing Investment

Shantel argues that crowdfunding plays a major role in democratizing investment opportunities. She highlights the significance of the 2016 regulatory change that opened startup investing to non-accredited investors.

“Before 2016, everyday people like you and me couldn’t invest in private companies,” Shantel explains. “You had to be an accredited investor, which meant meeting high income or net worth requirements — essentially leaving most people out of the opportunity to invest in early-stage companies.”

The introduction of Regulation Crowdfunding (RegCF) changed this, allowing anyone to invest in startups through crowdfunding platforms.

Shantel sees this shift as “monumental,” as it provides ordinary individuals with the chance to participate in innovative ventures. 

“People now have a chance to be a part of something, and it’s as simple as clicking a button,” she says, likening platforms like StartEngine to an “inventor’s gallery.”

This development aligns with LuxyList’s ethos of inclusive growth. “I love the idea of the people who use these platforms being the ones who own the platforms,” Shantel states.

With the near future in mind, Shantel outlines three main goals for LuxyList: completing their funding raise, expanding into new creator segments, and maintaining the company’s core values as it grows. 

“We’re small, but we’re fierce and mighty, and we have a vision,” Shantel affirms, stressing the importance of preserving LuxyList’s unique identity amid expansion. Her experience in rocket launching is coming in handy as Luxylist starts to take off.