Ribbon (company)

Ribbon was a San Francisco payments startup that lets users sell online using a shortened URL that can be shared across email, social media and a seller's own website.[4] The service focuses on bring integrated checkouts directly to platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter letting buyers purchase without leaving those services.

Ribbon
TypePrivate
IndustryTechnology
Founded2011
FounderHany Rashwan[1][2][3]
HeadquartersSan Francisco, California
Websitewww.ribbon.co

The company graduated from a startup accelerator called AngelPad as "Kout" in October 2011[5] and subsequently raised $1.6 million from Tim Draper through Draper Associates, Naguib Sawiris, Emil Michael, Gokul Rajaram, and others bringing its total raised amount to $1.75 million.[6]

Twitter shutdown

On April 10, 2013, the company announced support for "in-stream" payments on Twitter, allowing buyers to purchase items without leaving the Twitter.com stream. Twitter shut down Ribbon's API access after approximately an hour and a half, according to Head of Business Development, Daniel Brusilovsky.[7] Ribbon requested permission to show video cards, but after receiving permission then switched the url to show the hacked checkout system.[8] The company wrote a statement announcing they will revert to showcasing only a summary of their product without the ability to do in-stream payments.[9] As of April 11, 2013 Ribbon links inside Twitter no longer work in-stream and buyers are redirected to purchase on the Ribbon website.

References
  1. "Well, That Was Fast: Twitter Already Shut Down Ribbon's Newly Launched In-Stream Payments Feature". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2020-07-24.
  2. Mitroff, Sarah (2013-02-07). "Ribbon Wants You to Skip Craigslist and Sell Your Stuff on Facebook". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2020-07-24.
  3. Staff, ByVadim SupitskiyForbes. "Hany Rashwan". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-07-24.
  4. "Payments Startup Ribbon Now Lets You Buy In-Stream On Twitter.com, Launches YouTube Support & Price-Matches PayPal" TechCrunch.
  5. "Former Googlers’ AngelPad Graduates 15 More Start-Ups" AllThingsD,
  6. "Ribbon Raises $1.6M From Tim Draper & Others, Launches New Way To Take Payments Directly In The Facebook News Feed" TechCrunch.
  7. "Twitter Kills Ribbon Payment Button in Tweets". 10 April 2013.
  8. "Well, That Was Fast: Twitter Already Shut Down Ribbon’s Newly Launched In-Stream Payments Feature" TechCrunch.
  9. "An Update on Ribbon and Twitter" Ribbon Blog


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