Gyft, a virtual gift card provider co-founded by SA-born entrepreneur Vinny Lingham, has been acquired by payments firm, First Data.<\/p>\n
Gyft was co-founded in 2012 by South African entrepreneurs Lingham and Mark Levitt, and operates out of San Francisco, USA, as a gift card platform for businesses to offer reward and loyalty programmes.<\/p>\n
The company’s mobile wallet is accessible through its website and as a free app on iPhone and Android devices, and has more than 200 of the most recognised retailers on its digital gift card platform.<\/p>\n
As rationale for the purchase, First Data pointed to its own research which shows that electronic gift card sales grew 71% from 2012 to 2013, with the overall virtual and mobile cards business “gaining share rapidly in the near-$100 billion U.S. gift card market”.<\/p>\n
“As a part of First Data\u2019s suite of innovation-powered products, Gyft will be added to a portfolio of technology-driven gift solutions that link advanced consumer-engagement technology with point-of-sale business solutions,\u201d said Lingham of the move.<\/p>\n
According to Pando.com, the acquisition was valued between $54 million and $100 million<\/a>, and had apparently been in the works for two months, growing from a previous deal between Gyft and Clover, another First Data company.<\/p>\n Gyft had raised $7.5 million in funding prior to the acquisition, according to TechCrunch, though the AngelList indicates an amount of $6.25 million<\/a> raised.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t see this as an exit. We see this as a continuation of what we\u2019re already doing, but with a lot more resources,\u201d Lingham told Pando in an interview.<\/p>\n “We feel like we\u2019ve won the space by focusing 100% on gift cards, while too many mobile wallets tried to go too horizontal. As a result, we nailed the customer experience,\u201d Lingham said.<\/p>\n The company will reportedly continue to operate as a standalone brand while its 18-person team will stay intact, working out of the company\u2019s current San Francisco office.<\/p>\n Lingham previously established the free website building service, Yola, which he founded in 2007.<\/p>\n Vinny Lingham leaves Yola, starts Gyft<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n SA crowdsourcing firm in merger deal<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Springleap\u2019s global expansion plans<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nMore on SA startups<\/h3>\n