Koch Disruptive Technologies, the venture capital arm of industrial and chemicals conglomerate Koch Industries, led a series D round of undisclosed size for US-based shopping rewards provider Ibotta yesterday at a $1bn valuation.
Ibotta operates a mobile shopping app that partners brands and retailers to offer shoppers cash rewards when they make certain purchases, in brick-and-mortar stores as well as through apps and websites. It has been downloaded more than 35 million times.
The funding will fuel the company’s growth as it prepares to expand its Denver, Ohio headquarters while ramping up headcount.
Bryan Leach, Ibotta’s founder and chief executive, said: “While we have reached the point of critical mass awareness when it comes to paying with our phones, there is still one piece missing on the path to true adoption: rewards.
“Through a shared vision with KDT and our expertise in rewards and consumer psychology, we are best-positioned to transform the emerging $100 trillion global payments market. The excitement of cash rewards will be the flashpoint in changing consumer behaviour and driving adoption of new forms of mobile payments worldwide.”
Ibotta had previously raised a total of approximately $95m, securing $25m in a July 2017 series C-1 round led by venture capital firm GGV Capital that included Harbor Spring Capital, Haystack Partners and private investors Jim Clark and Tom Jermoluk.
Clark had led the company’s $40m series C round in 2015, the year after he led a $20m series B that also featured Jermoluk. Undisclosed investors had provided Ibotta with $1.7m in funding in 2012 and $7.9m the following year according to regulatory filings.
