Cardless raises $30 million

Fintech startup Cardless has raised $30 million in a round led by Activant Capital, with participation from Industry Ventures, Amex Ventures, Mischief, Assurant Ventures, Thayer Ventures, Pear VC, and Commerce Ventures.

Founded in 2019 and headquartered in San Francisco, Cardless offers a platform for brands to launch credit card and loyalty products. In the past year, the company has tripled its Gross Transaction Value and increased its Annual Recurring Revenue by fivefold. Cardholder numbers have doubled in the last six months, and its premium co-branded cards are averaging nearly 20 transactions per month.

“Over the last 12 months we’ve been able to design products for some of the best brands in the world, including Qatar Airways and Alibaba. These brands chose us because of our differentiated approach to the entire co-branded card experience. From embedded servicing to leveraging a brand’s data for personalized sign-up offers, Cardless delivers an experience that other cobrand-focused banks and fintechs cannot match. We’ll use this funding to further build out a world-class team, enabling us to scale both new and existing programs.” – Michael Spelfogel, Co-Founder and President of Cardless.

“Cardless is attacking one of the largest markets in fintech that has historically been woefully underserved. Before Cardless, the largest brands in the world had been unwilling to launch credit cards because the customer experience provided by cobrand-focused banks didn’t meet their standards. Cardless has been able to take the industry head on and launch cards with some of the most sought-after brands on the market. Cardless has built the only embedded platform capable of servicing both consumers and SMBs and we’re excited to double down as they continue to scale large programs for some of the best companies in the world.” – Andrew Steele, Co-founder of Activant Capital.