The startup building “benefits with friends” has raised $20M to date.

Claim, a viral social app transforming how Gen Z discovers brands, today announced a $12 million Series A funding round led by VMG Technology, with participation from prior leads Sequoia Capital and Susa Ventures, as well as new investor, Lightbank.

Since launching at Harvard in 2023, Claim has expanded across the US, helping thousands of Gen Z shoppers discover new brands every day. During The Claim Drop, consumers are matched with a high-intent brand to try, while earning cash back directly to their Venmo accounts after making purchases. Claim has high penetration spanning more than 70 campuses nationwide and is poised to redefine how brands reach Gen Z.

Claim’s leadership team combines expertise in technology, marketing, and Gen Z culture, creating a platform that resonates with today’s socially-driven generation. The team’s understanding of consumer trends has propelled Claim's rapid growth since launch.

“Gen Z understands the internet, and they do not want more ads,” said Sam Obletz, Claim’s co-founder and CEO. “Instead, Claim gives users an authentic reason to try something new with a friend — it’s the spark to hang out and explore with someone in real life.”

Benefits with Friends

For users, Claim creates opportunities to connect with friends, whether over a shared meal, fitness class, or finding a new brand to try. Each reward on Claim is social: users compare what their friends received in The Drop, offer trades, and gift rewards to friends. When a user is introduced to a brand during The Drop, they can see which of their friends already shops there.

Users describe The Drop as a ritual and a moment of delight in their week, with purple Claim screens blanketing campuses at 11am every Thursday. When users see a friend with the same reward, they often reach out and go try a new restaurant, shop, or experience together.

A New Marketing Model

For brands, Claim inverts traditional advertising. Rather than paying for attention on Google or Meta, brands invest directly in customer acquisition by offering cash back to high-potential new customers.

Claim’s rich community, secure first-party data, and delightful user experience create a uniquely successful formula for brands to reach customers in 2024 and beyond. At a time when cookies are declining and it is harder than ever to understand a customer, Claim uses financial transaction histories to match potential superfans and prove incrementality at the transaction level.

For best-in-class brands like Sweetgreen, Shake Shack, and Blank Street Coffee, Claim is a targeted customer acquisition channel to drive online purchases or hordes of in-store traffic. Claim enables purchasing across existing channels — including in-person and online — without the need for any system integrations.

“Claim has been an incredible partner in helping us deepen our strong connection with Gen Z customers and fans,” said Casey Lipton Rubinroit, Product Marketing Lead at Sweetgreen. "Our mission is to connect more people to real food, so we love teaming up with brands that share our passion for using innovative technology to make real, meaningful connections happen. Claim does exactly that, with a platform that drives real-world actions and genuine engagement.”

Strategic Growth Ahead

The new capital will help accelerate Claim’s growth as it scales its merchant network, expands across the US, and doubles down on its mission to enable authentic and social brand discovery.

Claim will use the Series A funding to:

• Grow the Team: Building out engineering, marketing, and operations to support rapid scaling and product development.
• Expand Claim’s Merchant Network: Adding more brands across industries — from dining to retail to experiences — and offering students even more opportunities to discover their new favorite brands and places.
• Reach New Markets: While the near-term focus is expanding on college campuses, Claim will also begin off-campus expansion into major cities across the United States.

VMG’s Investment Thesis

As a leading investor in high-growth, consumer-enablement technology, VMG Technology sees Claim as a game-changer in digital marketing to Gen Z.

“We believe Claim is solving a burning need for brands — attributable, reliable, and authentic connection with new customers in Gen Z,” said Sam Shapiro, Principal at VMG Technology. “For marketers struggling with increasing CAC and low conversion via traditional marketing channels, Claim’s platform offers control and reliable engagement with young, culture-setting customers.”

About Claim

Claim is reinventing the way Gen Z discovers brands through weekly “Drops” that reward students for exploring new merchants, from food, to retail, to experiences. By combining the power of first-party data with social, real-world interactions, Claim connects brands with one of the most elusive, high-growth consumer bases. For more information, visit claim.co.

About VMG Technology

VMG Partners is a leading investment firm focused on partnering with entrepreneurs and managers to support the growth and strategic development of transformative branded consumer businesses, services, and the technologies that power them. VMG’s 20-year heritage of backing breakout consumer brands gives us a unique vantage point to problems that need solving. VMG Technology seeks to support visionary founders to do exactly that, with both capital and a far-reaching customer development ecosystem. For more information, visit vmgpartners.com/our-approach.

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