附近上门

, a technology company that aims to reward consumers with equity in brands they frequently shop with, officially launched with 50,000 users after raising follow-on funding of $10.4 million for its Series A round, as well as closing on $5 million in debt financing.

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鈥淲e are bringing stock-as-a-reward into the market, where we already have points, cashback and other rewards,鈥� , founder and CEO told 附近上门 News. 鈥淭he general thesis is using stock ownership as a new mechanism for loyalty.鈥�

Bumped鈥檚 initial launch is via a consumer app, which converts spend at 1,000 retailers into stock rewards. The company is also developing an app for enterprises that want to provide a similar reward to their employees, he added.

Backers for the Series A include , , , as well as Valor Siren Ventures, a joint venture created by and to identify leading innovation in food and retail technology. With the latest round, Bumped has raised funding of $30 million since its inception in 2017, including closing its Series A in three separate tranches over the course of a year, one of which was $17.1 million, according to 附近上门 data.

Bumped鈥檚 new funding was used to create a brokerage so that the company could support a broker-dealer for the stock rewards program as well as the technology platform, something Nelsen described as 鈥渘o small feat.鈥�

It then launched a pilot study with the and completed a data report, based on the study, to understand how the new form of reward may impact consumer behavior.

鈥淲e spent almost two years doing a formal study where we gave out 2 million stock rewards to understand what happens when someone becomes an owner in a company they shop with,鈥� Nelsen said. 鈥淐onsumers stopped shopping with competitors, and there were increases in return shopping, monthly spend and return on investment.鈥�

In addition, the company found that when brands put out a couple of dollars in stock rewards, they received 23 times the ROI, which was 鈥渕oney well spent,鈥� Nelsen added.

The is poised to reach $201 billion by 2022, according to Beroe, a procurement intelligence firm. Meanwhile, a search within the 附近上门 database for U.S. yielded 106 companies that raised $2.2 billion in funding over the last five years.

While there are many reward programs out there, the global pandemic helped brands realize their need to get creative in building loyalty. It also provides a way for the approximately , to do so, Nelsen said.

鈥淏umped represents a new way for brands to help build affinity and relationships with consumers, where they literally become the brand ambassador and part of the story,鈥� he added. 鈥淎nother thing we learn is people don鈥檛 sell their stock鈥攍ess than 5 percent, which shows people value feeling like they have a stake in the places they shop.鈥�

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