
Address
500friends Inc
100 First Street
Suite 2250
San Francisco, CA 94105
United States
500friends Inc
115 Sansome Street
15th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94104
United States
VCID: 437269
Profile
Corporate information
Official identities
Company type
The best loyalty and retention marketing partner for CMOs.Merkle Loyalty Solutions, formerly 500friends, is a leader in customer loyalty marketing solutions. Clients depend on us to help them develop and execute a differentiated and impactful customer loyalty strategy that delivers the business results they expect. Merkle Loyalty Solutions is recognized by Forrester Research as a Strong Performer in The Forrester Wave™: Customer Loyalty Solutions, Q3 2017, and as a Leader and received the highest overall score in The Forrester Wave™: Customer Loyalty Solutions For Midsize Organizations, Q1 2016. The end-to-end loyalty services Merkle Loyalty Solutions offer include:
- Strategic consulting
- SaaS loyalty platform named LoyaltyPlus™
- Platform integration
- Program management and support
- Advanced analytics
Merkle is a leading data-driven, technology-enabled, global performance marketing agency that specializes in the delivery of unique, personalized customer experiences across platforms and devices. The agency’s heritage in data, technology, and analytics forms the foundation for its unmatched skills in understanding consumer insights that drive people-based marketing strategies. With more than 4,100 employees, the Merkle team is based in Columbia, MD, with 16 additional offices in the US and 8 offices in Europe and Asia. In 2016, the agency joined the Dentsu Aegis Network.
Team
Current employees
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Hong Hu | founder | |
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Justin Yoshimura | Responsibilities: Executive Officer |
Funding
Funding rounds
Investor | Profile | Country | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|
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Merkle Inc | United States | Initial investment. Led the round. |
Series B USD 5,000,000
Investor | Profile | Country | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|
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Crosslink Capital Inc | Venture capital firm with an asset management business that continues into the public equity market for fast-growing companies. | United States | Initial investment. Round participant. |
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Fung Capital USA | United States | Initial investment. Round participant. | |
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Intel Capital Corp | Intel's strategic investment program for equity investments/ acquisitions to grow the Internet economy in support of Intel's strategic interests. | Cayman Islands | Follow-on investment. Round participant. |
Series A USD 4,500,000
Investor | Profile | Country | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|
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Crosslink Capital Inc | Venture capital firm with an asset management business that continues into the public equity market for fast-growing companies. | United States | Initial investment. Round participant. |
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Justin Yoshimura | Initial investment. Round participant. | ||
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Matt Gilbert | Initial investment. Round participant. | ||
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Intel Capital Corp | Intel's strategic investment program for equity investments/ acquisitions to grow the Internet economy in support of Intel's strategic interests. | Cayman Islands | Follow-on investment. Round participant. |
Investor | Profile | Country | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|
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Crosslink Capital Inc | Venture capital firm with an asset management business that continues into the public equity market for fast-growing companies. | United States | Initial investment. Round participant. |
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Fung Capital USA | United States | Initial investment. Round participant. | |
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Great Oaks Venture Capital | Initial investment. Round participant. | ||
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Intel Capital Corp | Intel's strategic investment program for equity investments/ acquisitions to grow the Internet economy in support of Intel's strategic interests. | Cayman Islands | Initial investment. Round participant. |
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Wasabi Ventures LLC | Initial investment. Round participant. | ||
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Y Combinator | American technology startup accelerator. | United States | Initial investment. Round participant. |
Seed USD 1,400,000
Investor | Profile | Country | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|
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Alex Le | Initial investment. Round participant. | ||
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Anurag (Anu) Nigam | Initial investment. Round participant. | ||
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Babak Nivi | Initial investment. Round participant. | ||
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Chris Yeh | Initial investment. Round participant. | ||
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Dan Martin | Initial investment. Round participant. | ||
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David Li | Initial investment. Round participant. | ||
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Eric Chen | Initial investment. Round participant. | ||
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Implistic Capital | Initial investment. Round participant. | ||
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Jeff Fluhr | Initial investment. Round participant. | ||
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Justin Yoshimura | Initial investment. Round participant. | ||
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Naval Ravikant | Initial investment. Round participant. | ||
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Quest Venture Partners | United States | Initial investment. Round participant. | |
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Richard Chen | Initial investment. Round participant. | ||
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Steve Newcomb | Initial investment. Round participant. | ||
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Y Combinator | American technology startup accelerator. | United States | Initial investment. Round participant. |
Cap Table
Current and past shareholders
Investor | Contacts | Round | |
---|---|---|---|
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Alex Le |
N/A Seed Series A |
|
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Crosslink Capital Inc Venture capital firm with an asset management business that continues into the public equity market for fast-growing companies. |
+1 (415) 617-1800 |
Seed Series A Series B |
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Fung Capital USA |
+1 (415) 315-7440 |
Seed Series B |
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Great Oaks Venture Capital |
Seed | |
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Implistic Capital |
Seed | |
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Intel Capital Corp Intel's strategic investment program for equity investments/ acquisitions to grow the Internet economy in support of Intel's strategic interests. |
+1 (408) 765-8080 |
Seed Series A Series B |
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Merkle Inc |
Acquisition | |
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Ovo Fund |
N/A (exited) | |
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Quest Venture Partners |
Seed | |
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Wasabi Ventures LLC |
Seed | |
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Y Combinator American technology startup accelerator. |
Seed |