Tipgain is an app that rewards you for sharing great products with your friends. To benefit from the rewards, all you have to do is scan the promotion QR code provided by Tipgain in-store at a product and send it to a friend sharing your interests.

The startup was founded by MSc Technology Entrepreneurship graduates Martin Poschenrieder, Gustavo Gorenstein and Chao Sheng ‘Toledo’ Hung.

On how the idea came about: Tipgain grew out of sharing a meal with friends. “I was always recommending my favourite Chinese restaurants to anyone who would listen. My best friend Gustavo suggested I start asking for discounts, we took it from there,” said Toledo, one of the co-founders of Tipgain.

The company not long ago completed a campus trial with Costa Coffee, offering a free coffee in exchange for referrals to fellow students to test the technology and user interaction in which Costa gave away more than 70 cups in less than two hours.

Toledo, who is Taiwanese, believes that Tipgain will appeal particularly to Chinese consumers because of their “willingness to share good news… and their love of a good bargain”. Mobile use is also very high in China, he said.