Raise Secures $60 Million in Series C Funding Round, Led by Accel, to Drive Growth and Expand Mobile Payments Network
PayPal Joins Existing Investors NEA and Bessemer; Raise Will Use Funds to Further Build First Secure Closed Loop Payments Network for Retailers to Sell Their Own Currency Direct to Consumers
Raise, a leading retail payments company and the world’s largest gift card marketplace, today announced it has raised $60 million in a Series C funding round led by Accel, with participation from PayPal and existing investors New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and Bessemer Venture Partners. This new financing brings the total capital raised by the company to more than $147 million.
Raise will use the new funds to accelerate the development of its closed loop mobile payments network. The company also plans to deepen its focus on the future of prepaid cards, while aggressively building a world-class retail partnerships team. Raise has millions of users and has generated over $1 billion in gross transactions to date. The company has built active partnerships with nearly 400 brands to expand digital distribution of their own prepaid cards and offer them enhanced access to their customers. Raise has reinvented traditional shopping behavior by creating the ability to use digital gift cards to save on everyday purchases through its mobile app and wallet offering.
As part of this round, Sameer Gandhi of Accel and Chicago entrepreneur Mark Tebbe will join Raise’s board of directors. Gandhi has led Accel's early investments in Birchbox, Bonobos (acquired by Walmart), Jet (acquired by Walmart) and Venmo (acquired by Braintree), as well as being a seed investor in Dropbox and Flipkart. With more than 30 years of experience, Tebbe is a proven investor and successful entrepreneur who co-founded Lante Corp and Answers.com, both NASDAQ-listed companies. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Entrepreneurship at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business and chairman of ChicagoNEXT, the city’s public-private partnership for entrepreneurship, technology and innovation.
“We are thrilled to announce this latest fundraise and are privileged to work with such talented individuals as Sameer and Mark. With their expansive experience in payments, technology and ecommerce, they bring a tremendous amount of value to our board and our business,” said George Bousis, founder and CEO of Raise. “This successful fundraise unequivocally demonstrates that the market believes we are reaching a tipping point in mobile payments. With Raise, our retail partners recognize the value of building direct-to-consumer loyalty through prepaid mobile payments, as Raise has unlocked the ability for brands to interact directly with their customers and own the relationship for the very first time.”
A leader in prepaid payments, Raise has seen rapid growth since launching in 2013 with the mission of transforming the payments industry. The company’s path is clearer than ever, as it continues to invest heavily in mobile payments and prepaid cards that drive millions of customers to thousands of shopping destinations, both online and offline. The company continues to experience customer growth and has helped its millions of members save more than $140 million to date.
“Raise has built a strong, thriving marketplace in just a few years, which is an impressive feat -- but this is just the beginning,” said Sameer Gandhi, Partner at Accel and the lead investor in the funding round. “Raise has the unique potential to reinvent the entire mobile payment experience. We are excited to see this opportunity unfold and be a part of this incredible growth.”
Raise for Consumers
Using the
Raise mobile wallet app on iOS and Android, consumers can instantly make purchases at over 3,000 brands available on the marketplace, saving an average of 12% per transaction. The company plans to leverage its latest funding to focus on a best-in-class secure mobile experience that rewards its users for using the Raise Mobile Wallet.
Raise for Brands
Raise’s payments network aligns brands more closely with consumers, offering unprecedented insights into shopping behavior, both online and offline. With nearly 400 national brands already on board, Raise has proven that mobile prepaid payments can redefine a company’s customer acquisition and retention strategy through direct-to-consumer relationships that drive loyalty, retention, customer acquisition and overspend.
About Raise
Raise, a leading retail payments company and the world’s largest gift card marketplace, connects consumers to buy discounted gift cards or sell their unwanted cards for cash. As the leading retail technology partner with nearly 400 national brands, Raise offers a new type of digital payment for retailers. Since the company launched in 2013, Raise has saved millions of consumers more than $140 million and has received $147 million in funding from investors including Accel, PayPal, Bessemer Venture Partners and New Enterprise Associates. Raise is available on both iOS and Android or at
www.raise.com.