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SEcrEt SaucE
Connecting buyers and sellers of gift cards via easy-to-use online marketplace that enables consumers to turn cards into digital cash.
volume 9 • fall 2016
Marketplace Names
Raise, Raise Marketplace
Location
Chicago
Organized and Open for Business
2013
Line of Business
Gift card marketplace
Founder
George Bousis
Funding
More than $87 million in funding from investors including Accel, Bessemer Venture Partners and New Enterprise Associates.
Ownership
Private
Something You Might
Not Expect
Company founder George Bousis made a living as a professional video gamer as a teenager.
When a consumer receives a gift card to a brand or mer- chant he or she isn’t particularly interested in, the card often winds up sitting unused in a wallet—be
it the physical or mobile variety. And when gift cards go unre- deemed, it’s not just the cardholder who loses. The brand or merchant also misses out on valuable in- store or online shopping tra c and has to deal with accounting issues stemming from breakage. Chicago- based startup Raise o ers an elegantly simple approach to the problem. The company’s online gift card marketplace enables holders of unwanted digital or physical gift cards to resell the cards to con- sumers who want to use them.
The key is that the cards are sold at a discount—a $100 card might cost $85—so buyers are able to get more bang for their buck— essentially giving themselves
a “raise.” And because sellers typically paid nothing for the cards, the sale price is all pro t, leaving plenty of room for Raise’s 15 per- cent cut of each transaction.
Company founder George Bousis became interested in gift cards
in 2010, when he was tasked with developing a loyalty program for his family’s grocery store.
A 2009 Federal Reserve rule pre- vented gift cards from expiring for at least ve years from the date of issuance, extending the lifespan
of unused cards for resale. That development, combined with the rise of mobile wallets and digital marketplaces, sparked the idea
for Raise, which has since grown to more than 250 employees and more than $500 million in revenue.
“I saw an opportunity for consum- ers to be able to use gift cards
as a new type of currency inside the mobile payments ecosystem,” Bousis says.
And while physical gift cards are
a major aspect of the Raise market, Bousis envisions an ever-more- digital future—one in which
Raise is well-positioned to thrive. “We enable users to transform physical gift cards into electronic currency that they can use straight from their mobile device.” he notes. “The maturation of the mobile payments ecosystem
makes our platform more and more relevant.”
Chicago startup ‘raise’-es the bar for gift card reselling.
GEttiNG tO KNOw
Raise
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