ChargeItSpot: phone charging startup delivers 150 cakes to potential clients

Let ’em eat cake and hopefully they’ll realize they need a phone charging station.

That was the idea behind the marketing ploy that ChargeItSpot, a new Center City phone charging station startup, launched last Friday. The company sent three Benjamin Franklin impersonators to deliver 150 cakes — with founder Doug Baldasare‘s phone number written in frosting — to local businesses.

The heavy rain on Friday changed the delivery plans somewhat, said a company spokesman, but, for one, we spotted one of the cakes arrive at the First Round Capital offices, from where Technically Philly is located.

ChargeItSpot’s charging kiosks, which are free for customers, secured with locks and offer various types of chargers for different phones, are in three locations in Philly, including the Rittenhouse Square brick and mortar shop of ecommerce startup Kembrel, and a Whole Foods in Jenkintown. It hopes to install kiosks in 76 locations this summer, according to a release. Businesses pay a monthly fee to have a ChargeItSpot kiosk.

The company works out of coworking spot Seed Philly and has 10 employees, including both full-time and part-time. It raised $580,000 last fall, according to SEC filings and as we’ve previously reported. Baldasare, 29, is a Wharton graduate and lives in University City.