Ibotta

Ibotta is a North American mobile technology company founded by CEO Bryan Leach and based in Denver, Colorado. Through its mobile application and browser extension, the company provides cashback rewards to users on qualifying purchases including groceries, online shopping, retail purchases, entertainment, travel, restaurant dining, and more.[6][7] In August 2019, Ibotta received a $1 billion valuation after it’s Series D funding, and in 2022, the company surpassed $1.2 billion cash rewards paid to over 40 million users since the company’s founding.[8] The company’s rewards-as-a-service (RAAS) offering, the Ibotta Performance Network, went live in April 2022.

Ibotta, Inc.
TypePrivate
IndustryTechnology, coupons, mobile applications
Founded2012
FounderBryan Leach
Headquarters
Denver, Colorado
Area served
United States
Key people
Bryan Leach (CEO)
Luke Swanson
Rich Donahue (CMO)[1][2]
Sunit Patel (CFO)[3]
James H. Clark
Chris Jensen (CRO)[4]
Amir El Tabib (Chief Business Development Office)[5]
ServicesDirect marketing
Number of employees
950+ (2023)
Websitewww.ibotta.com

Overview

Ibotta partners with brands and retailers to offer cash back rewards on groceries (consumer packaged goods), retail purchases, travel, entertainment, pet supplies, and restaurant dining through its mobile app, online at Ibotta.com and through its browser extension.[9][10][11][12][13][14] Ibotta also offers cash back and rebates on alcohol (wine, beer, and spirits) that can be purchased at bars, restaurants, and liquor and grocery stores.[15][16]

The company's app is available on both iOS and Android devices and is currently available only in the United States.[17][18][19][10] Ibotta’s mission is to “Make Every Purchase Rewarding.”[10]

History

Founding through early 2019

Ibotta was founded by current CEO Bryan Leach. The company was incorporated in 2011 and the app launched to both the App Store and Google Play stores in 2012.[6][13][20] In December 2012 Ibotta celebrated the signup of its 100,000th user.[21] Early investors included entrepreneur and computer scientist Jim Clark and Tom “TJ” Jermoluk, Chairman of @Home Network.[22]

In 2015, Ibotta expanded beyond item level grocery, adding the ability to get cash back on in-store retail. In 2016, in-app mobile commerce began, allowing users to navigate from its own app to its partners in a seamless way to earn cash back for purchases.[23]

In 2016 with a Series C investment, Ibotta had raised over $73 million in funding.[24][25] In March of that year, Ibotta partnered with Anheuser-Busch (BUD) to offer cash back for adults who purchased its products, which include Bud, Bud Light, Stella Artois, Shock Top, Best Damn Root Beer, Goose Island, and Michelob Ultra.[15] In May, the company partnered with LiveRamp so that companies could use their CRM data to create segmented, personalized campaigns.[26] At the time, the company had around 200 full- and part-time employees and moved from offices in Lower Downtown Denver (LoDo) to a 40,000-square-foot office in the central Denver business district.[7] A year later, the company had to expand to a second floor as it added almost another 100 employees.[13]

In 2017 Ibotta added cash back for Uber to its app as well as cash back rewards for online and mobile purchases.[13][22]

In 2018, Ibotta was listed on the Inc. 5,000 list as one of the fastest growing private companies in the U.S.[27] A year later, in January 2019, the company reported that the Ibotta app had been downloaded more than 30 million times and had given users $500 million in cash back rewards.[28] That year, Ibotta was the largest mobile company in Colorado with 6 million monthly active users.[28]

Billion dollar valuation, August 2019 to present

In August 2019, Ibotta announced that it was valued at $1 billion, following a round of Series D funding.[29] The round was led by Koch Disruptive Technologies, a subsidiary of Koch Industries.[29] The amount of money raised was not disclosed, but followed three previous rounds of funding that totaled $85 million.[29][27]

2019 was also the year the company introduced Pay with Ibotta, which allowed users to complete purchases at key retailers on the Ibotta app and earn instant cash back in the process.[29] With that new service, users were able to enter their purchase total and use a QR code to checkout and receive immediate cash back.[29][27]

In 2020, the company partnered with Trees for the Future to plant up to 1 million trees as part of an Earth Month campaign to raise awareness about the waste of unused paper coupons.[30] In response to  the COVID-19 pandemic, Ibotta partnered with top brands in their “Here to Help” campaign and together committed over $10 million in cash back to American consumers to stretch dollars on essential items like bread, snacks and personal care items.[31] Due to shopping restrictions imposed during this time, the company added the ability to earn cash back from online grocery pick-up and delivery orders.

Later that year, Ibotta also started its free Thanksgiving program, providing users with 100% cash back on select groceries needed for a Thanksgiving meal.[32][33] By 2022, the company had provided approximately 10 million Thanksgiving meals.[32]

In 2021, Ibotta acquired the company OctoShop (originally Instok), whose app allows users to compare prices across stores, and set restock and price-drop alerts.[34]

Ibotta Performance Network

In April 2022, Ibotta officially launched the Ibotta Performance Network (IPN),[35] a Rewards-As-a-Service (RAAS) platform that retailers and publishers use to provide cash back rewards to their customers. This “pay for sale” performance network extends Ibotta’s reach to more than 120M consumers across retailer platforms, third-party publisher sites, and Ibotta’s direct-to-consumer properties.[36][37][38] Walmart joined the network in 2022 to power its digital rewards program, and Dollar General joined in 2023.[38][35][39]

Athletic Partnerships

Ibotta became the official jersey patch partner of the New Orleans Pelicans for the 2020-2021 season.[40] In September 2022, the partnership was renewed for the next three seasons.[41]

In March 2023, F1 driver Logan Sargeant, the first U.S. racer to compete in F1 since 2015, partnered with Ibotta.[42] The Ibotta logo is displayed on Sargeant’s racing helmet.[42] A few months later, in June, Ibotta stepped into name, image and likeness (NIL) programming by partnering with UConn basketball player Paige Bueckers and a number of other female collegiate athletes through its female collegiate athlete collaboration with Pearpop and the Brandr Group (TBG).[43]

Ibotta became the official jersey patch partner of the 2023 NBA champion Denver Nuggets for the 2023-2024 season.[44]

References
  1. https://martechseries.com/mts-insights/interviews/martech-interview-with-rich-donahue-chief-marketing-officer-at-ibotta/
  2. https://fortune.com/2023/04/17/convenience-store-industry-inflation-shoppers/
  3. https://www.cfo.com/corporate-finance/2021/03/cfos-on-the-move-week-ending-march-26-2/
  4. https://drugstorenews.com/ibotta-performance-network-debuts-3x-roas-guarantee
  5. https://retail-today.com/doubling-down-on-dollar-channel-success/
  6. Staff, The Hustler's Digest (February 25, 2022). "How Does Ibotta Work - Perfect Guide To Ibotta For Beginners". The Hustler's Digest. Retrieved July 13, 2023.
  7. Cohen, Patricia (March 31, 2016). "The Cities on the Sunny Side of the American Economy". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 10, 2016.
  8. D, O. (June 30, 2023). "Ibotta Users Numbers, Revenue and More in 2023". Retrieved August 29, 2023.
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  10. "Penny-Pinching Millennials Are Keeping the Coupon Alive". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved August 10, 2016.
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  30. "Denver's Ibotta To Plant Trees To Combat Paper Coupon Waste - CBS Colorado". www.cbsnews.com. April 14, 2020. Retrieved October 3, 2023.
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  33. "How to get a family Thanksgiving dinner for free this year". FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports. November 1, 2022. Retrieved October 10, 2023.
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  35. "Walmart Adds Rewards Program as Shoppers Watch Budgets". www.pymnts.com. August 24, 2022. Retrieved July 30, 2023.
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  41. "Ibotta renews official team jersey sponsorship with the New Orleans Pelicans". www.nba.com. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
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  44. Template:Date=2023-10-24
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