Tech startup launches GPS Easter egg hunt in San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- It was an Easter egg hunt with a San Francisco twist. A tech startup took over downtown Friday afternoon for an Easter egg hunt and doled out some serious prize money.

A crowd of hundreds gathered with their smartphones in hand. "We think of this as Easter egg hunt 2.0," one man said.

A company that started out with two guys and a fundraising campaign was offering $1,000 as the grand prize.

The founders said they raised $2.7 million for a little white square called Tile. You attach it to things you don't want to lose and it sends out a bluetooth signal you can track with your smartphone.

The company has grown a lot in the last two years. "We're the world's largest lost and found, we're in well over 50 countries around the world," Tile Marketing Vice President Brian Katzman said.

And they're coming up with new uses for Tile like Friday's Easter egg hunt. It's so simple a child could do it.

Each of the eight prize eggs contains Tile, which sends out a signal for smartphones to lock onto. But look out because for each one of the Real eggs there could be five or six decoys.

The hunt quickly turned into a race to comb through every crack and crevice. "I'll be really thrilled when I find one. I'm looking for the $1,000 egg," one woman said.

One guy was digging in the bushes up the street and when he found the real thing, he started running.

The winner of the jackpot was Regs Wong and he said he doesn't know how he'll spend the cash.