The Madison, Wis.-based startup raised $80 million in Series C financing
When Americans rushed to stock up on toilet paper and other essentials in the spring, Fetch Rewards, a shopping savings app, faced a challenge.
As more consumers sought to stretch their dollars during the pandemic, demand for the app went up, according to Wes Schroll, co-founder and chief executive of the Madison, Wis.-based startup. At the same time, some of the brands it works with pulled back from offering promotions because they had more demand than they could serve.
Fetch Rewards managed through that period and ended up increasing both its user base and revenue. The company recently raised $80 million in new funding. Fetch Rewards was valued at more than $600 million after this deal, according to a person familiar with the situation. Mr. Schroll confirmed that figure.
Iconiq Growth, a $9 billion investment manager affiliated with Iconiq Capital, led the Series C financing with DST Global participating. Prior investors Greycroft and e.ventures also joined the deal.
In addition to the primary investment, the company’s early backers also sold $30 million through a secondary sale, Mr. Schroll said. Secondary sales of this kind have become more standard over the past few years. The CEO started working on the business as a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and incorporated it in 2014.
Fetch Rewards competes with other brand-loyalty and couponing providers, such as Ibotta Inc. Recently, PayPal Holdings Inc., bought rewards startup Honey Science Corp., for about $4 billion.
Fetch gives points to users who upload pictures of their store receipts to an app. The points can be redeemed for gift cards.
Companies such as PepsiCo Inc., Kimberly-Clark Corp. , Unilever and others pay for the rewards when their brands are purchased. Fetch Rewards gets a small percentage as revenue. Brands get exclusivity in their category, Mr. Schroll said. They also get a view into shoppers’ aggregate purchasing behavior.
The company also is approaching a $100 million revenue run rate, according to Mr. Schroll. That figure stands for the latest month’s revenue annualized.
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