Bumped, which is looking to give users fractional shares in a stock when they spend money on a participating brand, has reportedly raised $2.5m.
The company has launched out of stealth with investment from Commerce Ventures, Peninsula Ventures, Stanford, and Oregon Venture Fund according to GeekWire.
A spokesperson for the company did not respond to a request for comment.
Portland-based Bumped is led by David Nelsen, a veteran fintech entrepreneur who previously sold digital payments startup Giftango to InComm.
Bumped aims to build one-to-one relationships between customers and the companies they care about. Customers apply for a brokerage account, link their debit or credit card, and select their favourite participating brands. As those customers spend with selected brands, Bumped gives customers a percentage of their purchases back in fractional shares of those stocks.
“I founded Bumped on my belief that everyone deserves to be an owner—because where we choose to spend our money can decide the future success or failure of a company,” said Nelsen. “Every transaction is a show of support for what brands you want to see in business in five years. If we turn that transaction into ownership, we can align customers and the brands they love in a mutually beneficial, lasting relationship.”
With fewer people owning shares of stock than compared to ten years ago, combined with brands facing the pressures of disintermediation and price-shopping, Bumped is looking to build ‘lasting one-to-one relationships’. The company believes that their technology serves both sides of the relationship and will align incentives between the two to encourage brand loyalty.
“Bumped succeeds when the consumer-brand relationship thrives. And it takes at least two to make a relationship,” Nelsen added. “Customers that want to own the brands they love, but feel they don’t have the financial means, knowledge, or confidence, and companies who need to build stronger relationships with the people who matter most in their world—their customers.” The app is launching in beta and customers can sign up for the waitlist.
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