New York-based Point.me, which has built a search engine to optimize realization of reward points, has raised $10 million in a Series A round led by San Francisco-based Thayer Ventures.
Other investors participating in the Series A round included PAR Capital Ventures, which led a $2 million seed round in 2022, RiverPark Ventures, Plug and Play Ventures, MoreThanCapital, and Google Flights co-founders David Baggett and Carl de Marcken.
Former CNN Exec at Helm
Prior investors include Gaingels, WndrCo Holdings, television star Bethenny Frankel, British investor Chantal Noble Haldorsen, Dreamworks co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg, video game creator Jason Rubin, Dropbox founder Sujay Jaswa and a syndicate of executives from Meta and DoorDash.
The company was founded in 2019 by former CNN and NBC executive Adam Morvitz and Tiffany Funk, who worked at retailer Nordstrom before delving into travel loyalty programs. Morvitz serves as Point.me’s CEO while Funk, who runs the “largest independently-owned travel and loyalty blog” — One Mile at a Time — is president.
“With our first-of-its kind metasearch platform and this new financing, Point.me is furthering our mission to provide a seamless, easy-to-use travel booking solution, allowing consumers to unlock the whopping $30 billion worth of loyalty points that go unredeemed in just this year alone,” said founder and CEO Adam Morvitz, who previously founded a similar startup called Juicy Miles.
Point.me works with loyalty programs of over 150 airlines, and several credit card rewards programs too. It claims 1.5 million registered users in its first year of operations, as its annual recurring revenue grew 1,860%.
“Point.me delivers an unmatched travel discovery and search experience that has proven itself to be an incredibly valuable asset to jetsetters of all kinds,” said Thayer Ventures’ managing director Chris Hemmeter. “The company’s mission to make smarter travel more accessible and approachable excites our team, and we are thrilled to be supporting the brand in building upon their success as they expand their reach and scale their B2B and B2C verticals.”
Beyond Search
With multiple user programs, Point.me has set in place revenue paths. A standard self-serve plan costing $12 per month allows users unlimited searches to identify their optimal re rewards program, and provides other support. Point.me’s premium self-serve premium plan costs $260 per year, while a concierge plan offers full-service booking for $200 per person.
Commercial Real Estate
MacKenzie Companies
Advertising / Media / Communications / Public Relations
Nevins & Associates
Financial Services / Investment Firms
Chesapeake Corporate Advisors
Commercial Real Estate
Monday Properties
Venture Capital
Blue Delta Capital Partners
Internet / Technology
Foxtrot Media
Morvitz told TechCrunch the company plans go “beyond search,” and become the go-to loyalty management site for travelers.
“We aim to become the go-to loyalty management site for travelers, using our investment in data to improve the experience for our customers and enterprise partners,” Morvitz said. “This will include AI-based algorithms that highlight redemptions consumers are most likely to book and predictive technology to recommend which awards have the best chance of becoming available.”
San Francisco-based Thayer invests out of $81.9 million it has raised via four funds. It has made over 50 portfolio investments so far, and exited seven. Its recent investments include RS21 Data Science, HyperGuest, Operto Guest Technologies, Mews and Deal Engine.
