A gong rings in the office of Freebee Cards every time a new merchant partners with the company. Founder Ken Lazzaro encourages members of the start-up company to celebrate successes.

There seems to be reason for optimism.

Freebee Cards, which launched earlier this week, is a discount service company using what Lazzaro describes as virtual promotional gift cards. The service allows consumers to download a discount card with a predetermined monetary value that they can redeem at a retail location.

What differentiates Freebee Cards from daily deal websites such as Groupon Inc. is that consumers don’t know how much of a discount they will receive until they actually go to the retail location. Consumers sign up for the card at no cost. No money changes hands until the consumer goes to the store or restaurant, finds out how much money the card is worth and actually makes a purchase.

“This is a tool that really is built to bring people back into the brick-and-mortar stores,” Lazzaro said.

The service received a positive reception in the weeks leading up to the launch, Lazzaro said, with nearly 1,000 registered users and about 50 merchants either in talks or with signed contracts with Freebee Cards. The company is closing in on a $1.1 million round in angel start-up funding, and employs about 20 people.

Merchants, Lazzaro said, will benefit from incentive-based marketing, as the cards will be aimed at leading people to make purchases during slow periods, or even incentivizing certain products.

They will also benefit, he said, from the comprehensive analytics built into Freebee’s system. Merchants will be able to see the demographics of people who are reserving their gift cards.

“It’s giving merchants something that they know they need but don’t know how to get it yet,” Lazzaro said. “The amount of info a merchant can gather is invaluable.”

Lazzaro relocated to Des Moines from Denver to build the company. He was persuaded after visiting the city with one of his business partners and seeing the type of environment Des Moines could offer.

“It’s the type of place that you want to do business,” Lazzaro said.“