In a seed investment round headed by Sequoia Capital, the platform known as Claim, which functions as both a rewards app and a social network, raised $4 million. According to the startup’s goal statement, shopping should be enjoyable and social. An invite-only beta version of the app was released in January, and its primary audience currently comprises college and university students in the Boston area.
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Claim allows users and their friends to earn cash back, share rewards, and jointly redeem them through the platform. As opposed to manufactured content and reposts, the platform is a social network that places more of an emphasis on experiences that are shared by the community and real-world value.
In November of 2021, CEO Sam Obletz and Chief Technology Officer Tap Stephenson established the new company. When they were both attending Harvard Business School, the two individuals reconnected and developed the concept of Claim. They had first encountered each other when they were housemates at Yale. Obletz and Stephenson started by thinking about what it meant to possess something digital.
The two initially envisioned a network where users could accrue incentives that could be applied to their credit cards and used in the real world. They subsequently concluded that users should be able to trade or use the rewards with their pals. Obletz and Stephenson became aware that they were starting a social mechanism that has yet to be commonly used now as they developed these concepts.
Claim offers customers a novel value-based experience comparable to trading cards but specifically for brands. The business claims that enabling consumers to share new experiences and save money has transformed consumer incentives into a multiplayer game.
Claim wants to serve consumers, but it also wants to support companies and marketers in expanding their consumer base without having to spam them with advertisements on TikTok, Instagram, and Google. Customers find brands on Claim through referrals from friends. When attempting to contact new clients, the firm feels that offering a product for trial is more advantageous than running an advertisement.
“We greatly simplify things for marketers,” stated Obletz. We can locate clients by using the stores they and their friends frequent. If they have yet to go, we may reward them for trying their brand for the first time, which is extremely important as we are bringing in new customers. Based on their spending, we can also demonstrate how successful that reward was. And thus, all we’ve made is this crazily essential marketing tool.
The firm already works with various retailers, including small eateries like Life Alive in Boston and Fortune 500 companies like PepsiCo. Early results from Claim were encouraging; according to the company, one partner on the platform attained 97% of their target number of new customers in half the anticipated period, while another in 30 days attracted clients with a 35% repeat rate.
Since Gen Z is believed to be interested in authenticity and is weary of advertisements—especially given that it seems like every other post on social media these days is sponsored—Claim is presently concentrating on this demographic as its whole user base. With over 10,000 customers, the business intends to conduct more testing in Boston before finally going global.
Over the upcoming year, the company intends to expand its eight-person team and hire additional expertise with the help of the new capital. Before entering new markets, Claim wants to use the cash to concentrate on engineering-based testing and learning.
The $2 million pre-seed investment, headed by Susa Ventures and Box Group, preceded the startup’s unexpected seed round. The Kraft Group, 6th Man Venture, Reflexive Capital, A* Capital, GSW Ventures, and others participated in the investment rounds for Claim.
