Benjamin 💵

Setting the Scene

• Every credit card company advertises its cash back rewards to convince cardholders to purchase with them. 💸

• But how do rewards actually work?

  • Credit card companies negotiate agreements with merchants to offer cash back on certain spending activities.

  • As a result, both parties build customer loyalty, acquire users, and incentivize spending.

• However, credit card rewards are not standardized, and cardholders are often unaware of their offerings, leaving money on the table.

• This week's company provides a cash back platform that optimizes rewards for shoppers and runs rewards campaigns for merchants.

In a Sentence

Benjamin is a financial platform that enables credit card holders to optimize their rewards and merchants to engage shoppers.

• Holders: Users link any credit or debit card, spend online or in-store, and claim cash back rewards through the Benjamin app.

• Merchants: Brands of all sizes run cash back campaigns on the platform to acquire and incentivize customers.

• Engage: The Benjamin app gamifies earning cash back, simplifies rewards, and builds user retention.

The Basics

• Industry: Fintech, Personal Finance

• Headquarters: NYC 🍎

• Year founded: 2022

• Employee count: 8

• Investors: Antler, Expert Dojo, Steven Mak, Laura Palminen, Vesa Piltonen, Shlomi Haybi 

• Currently raising: $2m pre-seed SAFE ($1m committed)

• Business model: Commission from cash back offers, affiliate tasks, merchant campaigns

• Early traction: Launched last week after a successful beta test, 6.5k active users growing 30% monthly, $27M GTV with linked cards, 60k online merchants, and 10k in-store merchants

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

• This disruptive venture studio has opportunities for you. The team at Summit Venture Studio has an innovative approach to scaling companies and delivering investor returns – by partnering with universities to commercialize revolutionary technologies.

  • Think of the innovation happening in the classroom, the lab, or even in the stadium.

• For venture investors: Explore Summit’s portfolio of rapidly growing companies transforming education, healthcare, and elite athlete performance.

• For builders: Summit is recruiting entrepreneurial leaders to operate and scale their portfolio companies while leveraging their connections, capital, and expertise.

• For LPs: Summit offers a unique opportunity to diversify investments with proprietary, first-of-its-kind deal flow and access to untapped, innovative seed funding opportunities.

Due Diligence

WHAT WE LIKE

• 💳 Credit card trends: As credit cards increase in usage and optionality, consumers are looking to select financial tools that optimize for rewards, personalization, and ease of use.

  • Benjamin’s gamified platform helps the 23% of cardholders who haven't redeemed any rewards over the past year.

• 🗺 The roadmap: Benjamin's vision extends beyond cash back, with plans for its own cards, personalized AI shopping, payment acceptance for merchants, premium subscriptions, and more.

  • This diversification builds multiple revenue streams beyond cash back fees including interchange, ad revenue, and subscriptions.

• 🤝 Beneficial to merchants: Benjamin enables all brands to engage with and reach new consumers through configurable campaigns, regardless of size or relationships with credit card companies.

POTENTIAL RISKS

• 🏁 Competitive landscape: Benjamin must convince consumers to adopt another finance app while also competing with well-funded credit card rewards giants.

• 👓 Maintaining focus: With an ambitious roadmap, Benjamin must ensure it can execute its numerous product offerings from the onset.

• 🏪 Supply and demand: Benjamin's success relies on its ability to continually acquire a diverse range of merchant partners to offer compelling rewards to its users and onboard enough users to interest merchant customers.

Founder Profile

• Erno Tauriainen, CEO: Previously founded Spent, which raised $20M and was backed by Visa.

• Jaakko Hyttinen, CMO: Previously co-founded Uleabo.

• Nouh AlKhafif, COO: Previously worked at Amazon, where he led the advertising operations and robotics teams.

• Kati Kaivonen, CGO: Previously served as the Head of North America at Finnair.

Comps

• Bridge: Backed by TMV, Ulu Ventures, Bread and Butter Ventures, and others.

• Fetch: Backed by Softbank, ICONIQ, Headline, and others.

• Ibotta: Backed by Koch Disruptive Technologies, GGV Capital, Teamworthy Ventures, and others.

• Dosh: Backed by Goodwater Capital, Western Technology Investment, PayPal Ventures, and others.

📌 Bulletin Board

• 📄 Pitch like a pro: Are you looking to take your pitch to the next level?

  • Check out these 8 pitch templates to assist with fundraising, networking, and more.*

• 📈 This week in venture: M&A for venture-backed startups is on track for its lowest year since 2013.

• 💡 The innovation situation: Last week, Twitter released its controversial rebrand to X.

  *This is sponsored content.

🗳 Cast Your Vote

Last Week Today

• The results are in: Personal AI, a company that enables individuals to build a personalized AI model, was favored.

• Subscriber feedback: “While the product seems useful, it may reduce the work and creativity of individuals.”

✍️ Written by Brett

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