Clutch Raises $5.3 mln
August 05, 2013
Clutch said Monday that it has closed a $5.3 million Series B financing round led by Safeguard Scientifics. Previous investors, including Ben Franklin Technology Partners, also contributed. Philadelphia-based Clutch is a mobile app that stores gift cards, loyalty cards and coupons.
PRESS RELEASE
Philadelphia, Penn. – August 5, 2013 – Clutch, the mobile commerce company focused on the convergence of e-gifting, loyalty programs and merchant rewards, today announced that it has closed a $5.3 million Series B financing round led by Safeguard Scientifics, Inc. (NYSE:SFE), a provider of growth capital and operational support to technology and healthcare companies. Previous investors, including Ben Franklin Technology Partners, also contributed to the round. The funds will primarily be used for further development of the Clutch mobile commerce platform, including its B2B offering, which the company will unveil later this year.
In addition to the funding, the company also announced that it has acquired ProfitPoint, a leading supplier of loyalty and gift programs. ProfitPoint’s configurable loyalty platform, which unifies online and offline loyalty programs in one solution, coupled with Clutch’s mobile commerce capabilities, delivers a true end-to-end m-commerce and loyalty platform that benefits both retailers and shoppers.
“We’ve developed an unmatched level of understanding about the unique intersection of mobile payments, loyalty and gifting over the past four years, including what it takes to deliver convenience and value to the consumer,” said Ned Moore, co-founder, chairman and CEO of Clutch. “I’m personally excited to be partnering with Safeguard again, who previously demonstrated at my last company the deep operational and domain expertise that will drive value for Clutch going forward. Our objective is to extend this value to the merchant community in the months ahead as we move from being a purely consumer-focused company to one that also serves the needs of merchants that want to deliver real value to shoppers through their own branded mobile applications, but don’t have the time or resources to develop one in-house.”
Along with its loyalty platform, ProfitPoint brings more than 3,000 merchant clients to the Clutch ecosystem, as well as a merchant card processing platform. The acquisition of ProfitPoint comes on the heels of Clutch’s acquisition of Sqoot, which aggregates local deals from more than 50 providers, including Groupon, Living Social and Yelp. With the Clutch mobile app, consumers can use their location and also search deals by keyword and category to find those that are just right.
“It is proven that retailers with loyalty and gifting programs see 46 percent more purchases than retailers that don’t have loyalty and gifting programs. As a result, it’s essential for retailers to launch these programs across all of the customer touch points, especially mobile,” said Erik B. Rasmussen, managing director, technology at Safeguard, who will also be joining Clutch’s board of directors. “Clutch addresses this need by being one of the only companies in the market that unifies offline, online and mobile loyalty into one platform that allows merchants to launch loyalty and gifting programs seamlessly to their customers. We are excited about the opportunity and look forward to working with the management team at Clutch to build a successful business.”
The ProfitPoint and Sqoot acquisitions enable Clutch to deliver fully-branded white-labeled mobile applications to midsized retailers that are proven to engage shoppers and drive new revenue opportunities. The only mobile platform company with its own consumer-facing application, Clutch applies its first-hand experience and expertise to provide retailers a low-risk solution in a matter of weeks that unites mobile shopping, gifting and loyalty.
“The retail industry is experiencing a convergence of e-gifting, loyalty programs and rewards. The main driver of this convergence is mobile, and the adoption of mobile wallets such as Clutch and Apple’s Passbook. The acquisition of ProfitPoint enables us to enhance our loyalty and reward capabilities within the Clutch mobile app, giving consumers all the shopping functionality they need right at their fingertips,” said Andy O’Dell, co-founder and chief commercial officer at Clutch.
About Safeguard Scientifics
Founded in 1953 and based in the Greater Philadelphia area, Safeguard Scientifics, Inc. (NYSE:SFE) is celebrating 60 years of fostering innovation and entrepreneurship. Today, Safeguard provides growth capital and operational support to healthcare and technology companies in medtech, healthtech, specialty pharmaceuticals, financial technology, digital media, and Enterprise 3.0. For more information, please visit www.safeguard.com, “Follow” Safeguard on Twitter @Safeguard, and/or “Like” Safeguard on Facebook.
About Clutch
Clutch provides the only mobile platform that unites shopping, loyalty programs and gifting, delivering the most relevant offers to consumers and the most targeted customers to merchants. With its proprietary recommendation engine, the Clutch mobile app enables consumers to get the best deals, give the best gifts, and share it all with their friends and family in a single place. For more information, please visit www.clutch.com, “Follow” Clutch on Twitter @ClutchShopping and/or “Like” Clutch on Facebook.