A cheeky text from her son asking Mum to shout him a beer has inspired a Sunshine Coast hinterland woman to create an app that lets friends and family buy birthday drinks from anywhere in the world.
Dannielle Healy was relaxing at home when her son sent a photo of a pub’s payment code, asking if she would buy him a Stone & Wood.
“I was sitting at home laughing, thinking: he’s found a way to get me to shout him a beer from the couch,” she said.
“And then I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Why can’t we all do that? Half the people who love you can’t make it to your birthday. They should still be able to buy you a drink.”
That idea became Cake Day, a free app that allows friends and family to shout someone a birthday drink, breakfast or even a $100 bar tab, regardless of distance.
The birthday person creates a page in about two minutes, chooses a themed menu and shares a link.
Friends can then select a gift and pay through their web browser without downloading an app.
The recipient receives the full menu price directly into their bank account and can respond with a photo to say thanks.
The person buying the gift pays a flat $3 fee, or $5 for a $100 gift.
Remarkably, Ms Healy built Cake Day herself at her hinterland kitchen table, without developers or start-up funding.
It is the ninth app she has released in just over a year through her one-woman business, Gigi & Danni.
“A couple of years ago an app like this would have cost a hundred thousand dollars and a team of developers. I built it at my kitchen table,” she said.”
Friends can also secretly create a birthday page for someone and surprise them with a collection of gifts.
“The best version of this is the one where someone’s friends do it behind their back,” she said.
“You wake up on your birthday and there’s a tab waiting for you.”
Cake Day is available on Google Play and at cakeday.com.au, with an iPhone version planned.
App creator Dannielle Healy turned a cheeky request from her son for a beer into an app that lets friends and family shout birthday drinks from anywhere in the world.
