Brent Freeman founded Roozt about three years ago with the idea of creating an Etsy-style marketplace for social entrepreneurs, providing a distribution platform for mission-oriented brands. In Freeman's words, Roozt is "bringing sexy back to giving back," making it easy to look and feel good at the same time.
"Gen Y loves brands that express personality through their purchase," Freeman told Mashable. "You can quickly go into Roozt, discover the coolest brands making a difference, see their products and get into their mission."
In 2012, Roozt began offering flash deals as well as traditional retail. Unlike Groupon or other big-name flash deal sites, your purchase will send money toward a cause. Recent flash offers include WeWood watches, which plants one tree through American Forests for each purchase; Indosole sandals, which saves one tire from a landfill in Indonesia for every two pairs purchased; and Ssesko sandals, which give money towards women's education in Uganda.
"Brands have a greater opportunity because of the marketplace platform," Freeman says. "People need to find out what a company's doing in 140 characters or less, to simply be able to discover them."
Roozt is also gamifying ecommerce by offering rewards and badges. When you sign up, you earn a "Change Maker" badge and a $10 credit. As you return to the site, purchase products, and share your purchases on Facebook, Twitter, or invite friends by email, you receive more reward money and more prestigious badges.