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- Raise secured $63 million in funding to expand into blockchain-powered gift cards.
- The platform aims to tackle fraud and streamline the gift card industry using stablecoins.
- Raise has facilitated over $5 billion in transactions since its inception.
Raise, a crypto gift card platform, has successfully closed a $63 million financing round led by Haun Ventures, with contributions from Paper Ventures, Selini Capital, GSR, and Solana co-founder Raj Gokal. This funding is set to drive Raise’s blockchain expansion, aiming to transform the traditional gift card market by integrating stablecoins and decentralized systems.
Founded in 2013 by George Bousis, Raise initially launched as a marketplace for buying and selling discounted gift cards from top brands like Airbnb, Walmart, and Instacart. The platform has since facilitated over $5 billion in transactions.
And as the market developed, so have its related threats, in this case, fraud. Chinese organized crime networks have exploited gift cards, draining tens of millions of dollars of unsuspecting shoppers. Such fraud can be dampened by efforts of regulatory authorities, such as Maryland’s new secure packaging law, but for Bousis, blockchain is a more powerful solution.
His proposal is for “Smart Cards” on a blockchain platform, which is secure and open. With secure custody of customer funds in an escrow account maintained by Raise, using stablecoins, payment is made to retailers on redemption. This is a decentralized system, which prevents intermediation and makes it easier to detect fraud, offering a streamlined alternative for traditional payment systems.
Raise Assembles a Strong Leadership Team
To lead its blockchain transition, Raise reshuffled its leadership by onboarding well-established personalities in the crypto and fintech industries. Marco Santori, a former chief legal officer of Kraken, and Bjorn Wagner, a former chief executive of Parity Technologies, now serve on its board. George Ruan, co-founder of Honey, and Matt Maloney, founder of GrubHub, have joined, each of whom have a great body of experience scaling digital businesses.
Despite this sudden change, Raise’s business fundamentals continue to be lucrative. Bousis would not provide detailed finance numbers, though, noting that the firm’s past success enabled it to finance in excess of $25 million of blockchain investment before it started taking in outside capital. This in-house investment is a vote of confidence in the technology by its founder, which can revolutionize an industry.
Its new financing, a combination of primary and secondary sales of its stocks and token warrants, gives Raise the cash it needs in order for it to achieve its blockchain dream. While it didn’t give its current valuation, it asserted it didn’t go below its last rounds of financing, which priced its Series D at a figure of $675 million.
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