Finally today we’ll start our LeWeb coverage with a portrait of Celine Lazorthes and her brand new Paris-based startup Leetchi. Right after graduation from Business School last year, 26-year-old Celine created the platform for free group gift applications. With Leetchi, groups of friends can join together to organize gifts of all kinds and collect money for them in a „Leetchi pot“. Once the group gift is fully funded, it can be bought through Leetchi’s e-commerce partners.

According to Celine, group gift-giving is a huge market: Each year $103 billion are traded between groups and friends, with one-third being only for group gifts. Two months out the gates, Leetchi still needs both higher visibility and more visitors: „It is our goal to have at least 2000 ‚Leetchi pots’ in 2010“ the young female entrepreneur says. In February, the startup will launch its B2B part with a widget for an e-commerce website. To get a feel for how the platform works just watch the demo at the end of our video.

Stay tuned for more LeWeb coverage in the coming days! Categories: LeWeb09 | portraits

Tags: Celine Lazorthes | E-Commerce | group gift applications | group gifts | Leetchi | leweb | startup-tv | tiburon