Wizeo: Spend $1 To Chat With Celebrities And See Your Money Go To Charity

By Avner Meyrav, NoCamels November 04, 2013 2 minutes

Would you pay a dollar to enter a lottery to win a one-on-one chat with a famous actor, politician or guru? Israeli company Wizeo thinks you would and plans to use the money for a good cause.

The idea is simple: Wizeo offers anyone the chance to win a one-on-one video chat with influential figures, such as former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, if they donate $1 or more to charity. The money from the Ehud Olmert campaign, for example, aims to raise $7,000 for ALEH, which aims to create a mobility hoist that provides safe and dignified transport for children with severe disabilities.

ALEH is Israel’s largest network of residential facilities for children with severe physical and cognitive disabilities. They provide 650 children in Israel with high-level medical and rehabilitative care in four residential facilities.

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“I’m waiting to speak to the website’s visitors about subject that they’re interested in,” Olmert said. “Naturally, as someone who held the Israeli Prime Minister’s office, I suppose that they would like to talk to me about state and military affairs, the Iran situation, Syria, various events, international relations with China, Russia and of course the US and my close relationship with former President George W. Bush.”

The Israeli-founded startup, which is based in Boston’s MassChallenge accelerator, was founded by Guy Bauman and Avishay Steiner. “Wizeo was founded to supply a simple, available and above all – fun solution, for micro-fundraising towards various social goals worldwide,” says Bauman. “The website is currently in beta, which can be joined via a 10-second signup process.”

On their website, Wizeo describes itself as “a revolutionary fundraising platform that enables causes to bring forth influential spokespeople and supporters in any field and capitalize on their audience’s desire for access.” The name Wizeo is derived from the word “Wiz,” which the company uses to describe their speakers.

Other campaigns currently taking place on the platform is 15 minutes of motivational speaking with Dan Ariely, the author of Predictably Irrational, who aims to raise $10,000 to support one child’s higher education for one year; as well as a chat with “achievement architect” Ari Meisel, who aims to raise $5,000 for No Kid Hungry.

So whether you’d like to chat with a former head of state, a successful author, or even a pair of reality TV stars, you can have a crack at it, and it’ll just cost you $1.