e-Candle
A birthday cake you can really blow out, sent as a link.
Built with our own money, from the first question to revenue. It’s how we’d work on yours.
- Live
- iPhone · iPad · Android · any browser
- 12 languages
- Zero paid ads
- 0paid ads, ever. Every install, in every country, came organically
- 54,000+installs since 2023
- 12languages, from Spanish to Thai
- 55%of people who open a shared card on the web blow the candles out
As of October 2026.
At a glance
- What we did
- Idea, design, app and website
- Who it’s for
- Anyone missing a birthday in person
- Business model
- Free with ads; one-time unlocks and e-Candle Plus
- Launched
- July 2023 · version 2 in October 2026
- Privacy
- The microphone listens on the phone and never records
Every stage, done by us.
- 01 · Discovery · 2023Spotted the opportunity in an airport refill station and defined the job: be there for a birthday you can’t attend.
- 02 · Build · April 2023The phone heard a blow and put the candle out within two days of the first line of code.
- 03 · Launch · July 2023Live on the App Store. Ten countries in the first five days.
- 04 · Growth · 2023–202654,000+ installs with zero paid ads. Cards that open in any browser, now in 12 languages.
- 05 · Pricing · October 2026After three free years: one-time unlocks, seasonal packs and e-Candle Plus.
How it works, in three moments
Each one was a decision, not a default.
01Build the cake
Classic or number candles, sparklers, fountains. Small choices, so it feels made for one person.
02Send it in a card
21 card designs, a message and a song. Shared over WhatsApp, Messages or email. The person you love opens it in any browser: no app, no account.
03Blow it out
Blow at the microphone, or tap if blowing isn’t an option. Gentle, Normal or Strong, so it works for a grandparent and a five-year-old.
54,000 installs. Zero ads. Here’s the playbook.
e-Candle is ours: we spotted the idea, designed it, built it and grew it. We’d rather prove what we can do than promise it, so here are five lessons from it, each one we now bring to the products we work on with you.
- 01Inspiration
Inspiration comes from unexpected places
An airport water refill station counting the bottles it saved became a birthday app. Two days later, a phone candle went out when you blew on it.
Try this on your productLook for the everyday behaviour before you write a line of code.
3 min read - 02Growth
Solve one job better than anyone, and you won’t need ads
The job was always clear: be there for a birthday you can’t attend. Ten countries in five days, then 54,000+ installs, all without a single paid ad.
Try this on your productDefine the job sharply, then make your product do it better than anyone.
3 min read - 03Sharing
Distance can’t cancel a surprise.
Our friends live across the country, and birthdays don’t wait. So you can send a candle to someone who isn’t in the room: they get the surprise of “someone sent me something”, then blow it out in any browser.
Try this on your productDesign the moment people share, and growth comes built in.
3 min read - 04Value
People don’t pay for features. They pay for emotion.
We asked which design details make a birthday moment feel worth paying for. The answers: sparklers and fountains, cards with your own photo, and seasonal packs.
Try this on your productFind what people will gladly pay for, without spoiling the experience.
4 min read - 05Seasons
Celebrations are local, so the product should be too
Halloween everywhere, Thanksgiving in the US, Día de Muertos in Mexico, switched on by region with no app update.
Try this on your productLocalise what matters, and ship it without waiting for app updates.
3 min read
Then and now
Same idea, three years apart. 2023: the first store screens. 2026: a cake drawn in code, cards, songs and seasons.
