After Acquiring Topguest, Travel Rewards Redemption Company Switchfly Raises $15M

Leena Rao

Leena Rao is currently a Senior Editor for TechCrunch. She recently finished graduate school at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, where she studied business journalism and videography. From 2004 to 2007, she helped lead Congresswoman Carloyn Maloney’s community outreach and relations efforts in New York City. She graduated from Columbia University in 2003, where she was... → Learn More

Thursday, March 8th, 2012
Switchfly

Travel rewards redemption company Switchfly (formerly ezRez) has raised $15 million in Series C financing led by StarVest Partners with Azure Capital Partners and Canaan Partners participating. This brings the total capital raised by Switchfly to date to $32 million.

Switchfly is a software company that develops white-label travel commerce and loyalty redemption platforms and a loyalty payments engine for digital wallets. Founded in 2003, Switchfly works behind the scenes with more than 300,000 travel suppliers, loyalty programs and payment providers globally, including AirAsia, American Airlines, United Airlines, Starwood Hotels, Intercontinental Hotels, JetBlue, American Express and PayPal. The company estimates that $750 million in travel transactions spanning 100 countries are processed through this travel platform annually.

The company’s back-end technology that lets you book hotels and rental cars with points and cash through various travel companies’ rewards programs. Collectively, more than 20 billion reward points are redeemed through the platform annually.

Switchfly will also soon offer a new digital wallet product, in partnership with PayPal, that will allow loyalty program members to use points to pay for merchandise and services anywhere PayPal is accepted. And the company recently purchased Topguest, a loyalty program that rewards users for engaging with brands on social networks.

The new funding will be used toward product development and to further expand Switchfly’s global operations.


Company: Switchfly
Website: switchfly.com
Launch Date: 2003
Funding: $34.8M

Switchfly, Inc. (formerly ezRez Software, Inc.) is a global software-as-a-service provider that helps travel companies, loyalty programs and financial services institutions engage with their highest value customers. The Switchfly product suite includes white label travel commerce and loyalty redemption platforms, a loyalty payments engine for digital wallets, social network engagement products through Topguest, mobile solutions for travel and loyalty partners, and personalized marketing solutions. Switchfly works with more than 300,000 travel suppliers, loyalty programs and payment providers...

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