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ChipIn is an online tool that enables people to collect money for gifts or other group purchases. Like Fundable, which we wrote about last year, ChipIn automates the time-consuming task of organizing people to collect funds for a group purchase. While Fundable’s open set-up has attracted a lot of charity projects (‘Short film seeks funding’ and ‘Help Jeff become a Yogi’ are two of Fundable’s recently completed fund drives), ChipIn focuses on purchases by people who already know each other. Users invite friends, family or co-workers to a ‘ChipIn’, which states how much money they’re collecting, and who or what the money is for. This creates a dynamic, customized event page and automated notifications, which means users don’t have to nag and remind people to contribute their share. Money is collected through major credit cards and PayPal, and is sent to the person or organization that organized the ChipIn. It’s a convenient, online solution to collecting money for birthday gifts, office lunches, neighbourhood fundraisers or any other group purchase – making the Honolulu, Hawaii based start-up yet another player in the fast growing field of social commerce. ChipIn’s revenue will come from advertising, transaction-based fees (the service is currently free to use), and partnerships with online retailers. The company’s goal is to make ChipIn the standard payment option for collaborative transactions. Opportunities? If you’ve been itching to start your own Web 2.0 business, there’s plenty of room to start up something similar in other countries. And if you’re in (online) retail, now’s the time to partner with companies like ChipIn and Fundable to forge the missing link between fundraising and actual purchases.