Ibotta
{{Short description|American mobile technology company}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2022}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Ibotta, Inc.
| logo = Ibotta logo.svg
| type = Public
| traded_as = {{NYSE|IBTA}}
| founded = {{Start date and age|2011}}
| founder = Bryan Leach
| hq_location = 1801 California Street
| hq_location_city = Denver, Colorado
| hq_location_country = U.S.
| area_served = United States
| key_people = Bryan Leach (CEO)
Luke Swanson (CTO){{cite web |url=https://home.ibotta.com/work-with-us/team/ | title=Meet Ibotta's Senior Leadership Team | access-date=April 23, 2024 }}
Rich Donahue (CMO){{cite web | url=https://martechseries.com/mts-insights/interviews/martech-interview-with-rich-donahue-chief-marketing-officer-at-ibotta/ | title=MarTech Interview with Rich Donahue, CMO at Ibotta | date=June 6, 2023 }}{{cite web | url=https://fortune.com/2023/04/17/convenience-store-industry-inflation-shoppers/ | title=Inflation finally caught up with the $45 billion convenience store industry }}
Sunit Patel (CFO){{cite web | url=https://www.cfo.com/corporate-finance/2021/03/cfos-on-the-move-week-ending-march-26-2/ | title=CFOs on the Move: Week Ending March 26 }}
Chris Riedy (CRO){{cite news |last1=Zboraj |first1=Marian |title=Ibotta Hires Chief Revenue Officer |url=https://progressivegrocer.com/ibotta-hires-chief-revenue-officer |access-date=28 February 2025 |work=Progressive Grocer |date=23 December 2024}}
Amir El Tabib (CBDO){{cite web | url=https://retail-today.com/doubling-down-on-dollar-channel-success/ | title=Doubling Down on Dollar Channel Success | date=May 22, 2023 }}
Marisa Daspit (CPO){{cite news |last1=Hansen |first1=Sara |title=Tech company Ibotta helps millions of shoppers, provides quality workplace |url=https://www.denverpost.com/2024/05/01/top-workplaces-2024-tech-company-ibotta-helps-millions-of-shoppers-provides-quality-workplace/ |access-date=28 February 2025 |work=Denver Post |date=1 May 2024}}
| industry = Technology, performance marketing, CPG campaign measurement, promotions, mobile applications
| services = Direct marketing
| num_employees_year = 2023
| homepage = {{URL|https://ibotta.com}}
}}
Ibotta, Inc. is an American mobile technology company headquartered in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 2011, the company offers cash back rewards on various purchases through its Ibotta Performance Network and direct to consumer app.{{Cite web |last=Natanson |first=Elad |title=How Major Brands Combine App Innovation With Old-Fashioned Marketing Principles To Win In Mobile |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/eladnatanson/2015/07/15/how-major-brands-combine-app-innovation-with-old-fashioned-marketing-principles-to-win-in-mobile/#10be72fc13e6 |access-date=2016-08-10 |website=Forbes}}{{Cite news |title=Penny-Pinching Millennials Are Keeping the Coupon Alive |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/feature/2016-millennials-coupons/ |access-date=2016-08-10 |website=Bloomberg.com}}{{Cite web |date=February 19, 2015 |title=In a World of Constantly Deleted Apps, This Mobile Player Uses Cash to Keep Folks Coming Back |url=http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/world-constantly-deleted-apps-mobile-player-uses-cash-keep-folks-coming-back-163025 |access-date=2016-08-11}} Ibotta partners with CPG (consumer packaged goods) brands and network publishers to provide these rewards. As of 2024, the company operates solely in the United States.{{Cite web |last=Perez |first=Sarah |date=September 30, 2015 |title=Mobile Savings App Ibotta Scores $40 Million |url=https://techcrunch.com/2015/09/30/mobile-savings-app-ibotta-scores-40-million/ |access-date=2016-08-10 |website=TechCrunch}}{{Cite web |date=September 28, 2015 |title=Ibotta plans to hire 200-300, triple Denver office space – The Denver Post |url=http://www.denverpost.com/2015/09/28/ibotta-plans-to-hire-200-300-triple-denver-office-space-2/ |access-date=2016-08-08}}{{Cite web |date=2016-03-02 |title=Free Beer! There's an App for That |url=http://fortune.com/2016/03/02/free-beer-budweiser-app/ |access-date=2016-08-10 |website=Fortune}}{{Cite news |last=Pavini |first=Jeanette |title=How to save on holiday spirits, wine and beer |newspaper=Marketwatch |url=http://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-to-save-on-holiday-spirits-wine-and-beer-2015-12-29 |access-date=2016-08-11}} The company's rewards-as-a-service offering, the Ibotta Performance Network, went live in 2022.
In August 2019, Ibotta received a $1 billion valuation after its Series D funding, and in 2023, the company surpassed $1.5 billion cash rewards paid to over 50 million consumers since the company's founding.{{Cite web |last=D |first=O. |date=2023-06-30 |title=Ibotta Users Numbers, Revenue and More in 2023 |url=https://www.onlinedasher.com/ibotta-facts/ |access-date=2023-08-29 |language=en-US}} Ibotta became a publicly traded company in April 2024 with a listing on the New York Stock Exchange.
History
= Founding through early 2019 =
Ibotta was founded by current CEO Bryan Leach. The company was incorporated in 2011 and the app launched to both the App Store and Google Play stores in 2012.{{Cite web |last=Staff |first=The Hustler's Digest |date=2022-02-25 |title=How Does Ibotta Work - Perfect Guide To Ibotta For Beginners |url=https://hustlersdigest.com/how-does-ibotta-work/ |access-date=2023-07-13 |website=The Hustler's Digest |language=en-US}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.denverpost.com/2017/06/28/ibotta-expands-downtown-denver/|title=Ibotta expands (again!) by doubling office space in downtown Denver|date=2017-06-28|work=The Denver Post|access-date=2018-05-22|language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Ibotta, Inc. {{!}} Business Details {{!}} Better Business Bureau® Profile |url=https://www.bbb.org/ |access-date=2023-08-02 |website=www.bbb.org |language=en}} Early investors included entrepreneur and computer scientist Jim Clark and Tom “TJ” Jermoluk, Chairman of @Home Network.{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/amitchowdhry/2018/01/29/how-ibotta-is-helping-every-day-consumers-save-time-and-money/|title=How Ibotta Is Helping Every Day Consumers Save Time And Money|last=Chowdhry|first=Amit|website=Forbes|language=en|access-date=2020-01-17}}
In 2015, Ibotta expanded beyond item level grocery, adding the ability to get cash back on in-store retail purchases. In 2016, in-app mobile commerce began, allowing users to navigate from the Ibotta app to its partners' apps to earn cash back on purchases.{{Cite web |last=Zappa |first=Joseph |date=2016-08-31 |title=Ibotta Announces In-App Purchasing Capability, Partnerships with Button, Jet, DoorDash {{!}} Street Fight |url=https://streetfightmag.com/2016/08/31/ibotta-announces-in-app-purchasing-capability-partnerships-with-button-jet-doordash/ |access-date=2023-08-22 |website=streetfightmag.com |language=en-US}}
In 2016 with a Series C investment, Ibotta had raised over $73 million in funding.{{cite web|url=https://techcrunch.com/2015/09/30/mobile-savings-app-ibotta-scores-40-million/|title=Mobile Savings App Ibotta Scores $40 Million|first=Sarah|last=Perez|date=September 30, 2015 |publisher=}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.denverpost.com/2016/01/14/venture-funding-down-in-colorado-but-firms-still-finding-money/|title=Venture funding down in Colorado but firms still finding money – The Denver Post|date=January 14, 2016|access-date=2016-08-11}} In March of that year, Ibotta partnered with Anheuser-Busch to offer cash back for adults who purchased its products. In May, the company partnered with LiveRamp so that companies could use their CRM data to create segmented, personalized campaigns.{{Cite web |title=Ibotta Launches Dynamic Segmentation, Partners With LiveRamp |url=http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/275531/ibotta-launches-dynamic-segmentation-partners-wit.html |access-date=2016-08-08 |website=www.mediapost.com}} At the time, the company had around 200 full- and part-time employees and moved from offices in Lower Downtown Denver (LoDo) to a 40,000-square-foot office in the central Denver business district.{{Cite news |last=Cohen |first=Patricia |date=2016-03-31 |title=The Cities on the Sunny Side of the American Economy |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/01/business/economy/cities-where-us-economy-is-thriving.html |access-date=2016-08-10 |issn=0362-4331}} A year later, the company had to expand to a second floor as it added almost another 100 employees.
In 2017, Ibotta added cash back for Uber to its app as well as cash back rewards for online and mobile purchases.
In 2018, Ibotta was listed on the Inc. 5,000 list as one of the fastest growing private companies in the U.S.{{Cite web |date=2019-08-06 |title=Cashback and rebate startup Ibotta secures funding at a $1 billion valuation |url=https://venturebeat.com/2019/08/06/cashback-and-rebate-startup-ibotta-secures-funding-at-a-1-billion-valuation/ |access-date=2019-08-15 |website=VentureBeat |language=en-US}} A year later, in January 2019, the Ibotta app had been downloaded more than 30 million times and users had been credited $500 million in cash back rewards.{{Cite web |date=January 31, 2019 |title=Denver-Based Ibotta Reaches Milestone |url=https://www.cobizmag.com/Companies/Denver-Based-Ibotta-Reaches-Milestone/ |access-date=2019-06-21 |website=www.cobizmag.com}} That year, Ibotta was the largest mobile company in Colorado with six million monthly active users.
= August 2019 to present =
In August 2019, Ibotta was valued at $1 billion, following a Series D round of funding.{{Cite web |last=Flanagan |first=Will |date=August 6, 2019 |title=Ibotta Raises Series D at $1B Valuation, Becomes Colorado's Latest Unicorn |url=https://www.americaninno.com/colorado/denver-startups/ibotta-raises-series-d-at-1b-valuation-becomes-colorados-latest-unicorn/ |access-date=August 15, 2019 |website=Colorado Inno}} The round was led by Koch Disruptive Technologies, a subsidiary of Koch Industries.
2019 was also the year the company introduced Pay with Ibotta, which allowed users to complete purchases at key retailers on the Ibotta app and earn instant cash back in the process. With that new service, users were able to enter their purchase total and use a QR code to checkout and receive immediate cash back.
In 2020, the company partnered with Trees for the Future to plant up to 1 million trees as part of an Earth Month campaign to raise awareness about the waste of unused paper coupons.{{Cite web |date=2020-04-14 |title=Denver's Ibotta To Plant Trees To Combat Paper Coupon Waste - CBS Colorado |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/denver-ibotta-trees-coupons/ |access-date=2023-10-03 |website=www.cbsnews.com |language=en-US}} In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ibotta partnered with CPG brands in their “Here to Help” campaign and together committed over $10 million in cash back to American consumers.{{Cite web |title=Ibotta partners with CPG brands for grocery give-back |url=https://chainstoreage.com/ibotta-partners-cpg-brands-grocery-give-back |access-date=2023-10-03 |website=Chain Store Age |date=May 7, 2020 |language=en}} The company added the ability to earn cash back from online grocery pick-up and delivery orders.
Later that year, Ibotta started its free Thanksgiving program, providing users with 100% cash back on select groceries needed for a Thanksgiving meal.{{Cite web |title=Ibotta Offers 3rd Annual Free Thanksgiving Dinner Program |url=https://progressivegrocer.com/ibotta-offers-3rd-annual-free-thanksgiving-dinner-program |access-date=2023-10-10 |website=Progressive Grocer |date=November 2022 |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2022-11-01 |title=How to get a family Thanksgiving dinner for free this year |url=https://fox4kc.com/business/how-to-get-a-family-thanksgiving-dinner-for-free-this-year/ |access-date=2023-10-10 |website=FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV {{!}} News, Weather, Sports |language=en-US}} By 2022, the company had provided approximately 10 million Thanksgiving meals.
In 2021, Ibotta acquired the company OctoShop (originally InStok), a shopping browser extension company.The OctoShop app enables users to compare prices across stores, and set restock and price-drop alerts.{{Cite web |last=Pickering |first=Kirstie |date=2023-01-30 |title=With 130,000 users, these college students sold their shopping browser extension to Ibotta |url=https://theygotacquired.com/software/octoshop-acquired-by-ibotta/ |access-date=2023-10-10 |website=They Got Acquired |language=en}}
In April 2022, the Ibotta Performance Network (IPN) was launched.{{Cite web |date=2022-08-24 |title=Walmart Adds Rewards Program as Shoppers Watch Budgets |url=https://www.pymnts.com/news/retail/2022/walmart-adds-rewards-program-as-shoppers-watch-budgets/ |access-date=2023-07-30 |website=www.pymnts.com |language=en-US}} The IPN allows brands to deliver digital offers to consumers through third party publishers. Retailers including Walmart, Dollar General and Family Dollar, food delivery services including Instacart, and convenience stores including Shell are all part of the Ibotta Performance Network.{{Cite web |title=Instacart partners with Ibotta to deliver digital coupons to shoppers |url=https://www.retaildive.com/news/instacart-ibotta-digital-coupons-promotions-grocery-retail/724206/ |access-date=2024-08-15 |website=Retail Dive |language=en-US}} This pay-per-sales or success-based performance network reaches over 200 million consumers.{{Cite web |last=Barba |first=Jacqueline |date=2022-04-12 |title=Ibotta Debuts New B2B Solutions, Brand Campaign |url=https://p2pi.com/ibotta-debuts-new-b2b-solutions-brand-campaign |access-date=2023-07-30 |website=Path to Purchase Institute |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Mitchell |first=Richard |date=2023-01-20 |title=Dollar General partners with Ibotta to provide cash back rewards |url=https://www.supermarketnews.com/consumer-trends/dollar-general-partners-ibotta-provide-cash-back-rewards |access-date=2023-07-30 |website=Supermarket News |language=en}}
On April 18, 2024, Ibotta had its initial public offering (IPO), trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol IBTA. It was the largest technology IPO in Colorado history.{{Cite news |title=Investors Rush to Buy Ibotta Stock in its IPO |url=https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/stock-market-today-earnings-04-18-2024/card/investors-rush-to-buy-ibotta-stock-in-its-ipo-OBcymX5RFjROeoQ8eaud |access-date=2024-04-18 |work=WSJ |language=en-US}}
= Athletic Partnerships =
Ibotta became the official jersey patch partner of the New Orleans Pelicans for the 2020–2021 season,{{Cite web |last=Carp |first=Sam |date=2020-11-26 |title=New Orleans Pelicans find jersey patch sponsor in Ibotta |url=https://www.sportspromedia.com/news/new-orleans-pelicans-jersey-patch-sponsor-ibotta/ |access-date=2023-08-10 |website=SportsPro |language=en-GB}} and continued the partnership through the 2023-2024 season.{{Cite web |title=Ibotta renews official team jersey sponsorship with the New Orleans Pelicans |url=https://www.nba.com/pelicans/news/ibotta-renews-official-team-jersey-sponsorship-with-the-new-orleans-pelicans |access-date=2023-08-10 |website=www.nba.com |language=en}}
In March 2023, F1 driver Logan Sargeant, the first U.S. racer to compete in F1 since 2015, partnered with Ibotta.{{Cite web |title=Williams F1 driver Logan Sargeant partners with Ibotta |url=https://www.blackbookmotorsport.com/news/williams-f1-driver-logan-sargeant-ibotta |access-date=2023-09-05 |website=www.blackbookmotorsport.com |date=March 17, 2023 |language=en}} The Ibotta logo was displayed on Sargeant's racing helmet throughout his F1 career. In June 2023, Ibotta partnered with UConn Huskies basketball player Paige Bueckers and a number of other female collegiate athletes through its female collegiate athlete collaboration with Pearpop and the Brandr Group (TBG).{{Cite news |title=UConn women's basketball star Paige Bueckers inks new NIL deal with Ibotta |url=https://www.ctinsider.com/sports/uconn-womens-basketball/article/paige-bueckers-huskies-nil-national-champions-18149845.php |website=CT Insider |last1=Butterfield |first1=Christine }}
Ibotta became the official jersey patch partner of the 2023 NBA champion Denver Nuggets beginning in the 2023–2024 season.{{cite web|date=2023-10-24|title=Ibotta Celebrates Commitment to Denver by Becoming the Official Jersey Patch Sponsor of the 2023 NBA Champion Denver Nuggets|url=https://www.nba.com/nuggets/news/ibotta-celebrates-commitment-to-denver-by-becoming-the-official-jersey-patch-sponsor-of-the-2023-nba-champion-denver-nuggets|access-date=2023-10-27|website=NBA.com|language=en-GB}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{official website|http://ibotta.com}}
{{Customer loyalty programs}}
Category:Business organizations based in the United States
Category:Mobile technology companies
Category:2024 initial public offerings
Category:Companies based in Denver
Category:Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange
Category:Reward, cashback and comparison-shopping digital platforms