Drop Announces $21M (USD) Series A Raise; Hires Former Airbnb Exec to Lead Engineering Team

Drop, the first truly flexible mobile rewards program, to use cash infusion and addition of Ian Logan, former lead of Airbnb Payments, to make major innovation push in 2018

TORONTO, Jan. 30, 2018 /CNW/ - Drop, a fast-growing, millennial-focused rewards program, announced today it has raised $21 million (USD) in Series A funding, led by top venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates (NEA). The round also features continuing participation from firms including Sierra Ventures, White Star Capital, ff Venture Capital, Portag3 Ventures and Silicon Valley Bank.

Drop's $21M USD Series A round is one of the largest Series A raises in Canadian Fintech. The cash infusion will support the company's rapid growth in 2018. This includes an upcoming engineering push directed by Drop's new executive hire, Ian Logan, formerly Director of Engineering at Airbnb, where he led the charge on all of Airbnb Payments. This announcement comes on the heels of massive growth for the company, reaching 1 million users soon after launching in the United States in October 2017.

"We've invested in some exciting Canadian tech companies in the past, and Drop is a prime example of the growing talent and innovation emerging from Toronto," said Rick Yang, partner at NEA. "Drop's mobile-first, direct-to-consumer approach, and focus on the millennial demographic have proven to fill a large demand in the market for consumers and brands alike. We're thrilled to partner with the Drop team as they continue to disrupt the massive loyalty market."

In conjunction with the closing of their Series A, Drop is also thrilled to be bringing on Ian Logan as its Vice President of Engineering. Logan will be responsible for the vision for the technology design behind the Drop platform and the growth and management of its engineering team. He plans to recruit and build a top-tier, diverse technical team across multiple areas such as frontend engineering, backend engineering, data infrastructure, data science, and machine learning."

Logan describes the choice to leave the steady, rapidly booming Silicon Valley bubble to return to Canada as the "easiest difficult decision" he's ever made. In 2017, Toronto was named one of the top 10 cities in North America for tech jobs, demonstrating its vast potential to be a major hub for tech innovation.

"I was inspired by the possibility of influencing the growing tech community in Canada. I saw the opportunity to cross-pollinate my own experience and knowledge in scaling companies. I wanted to make as big of an impact as possible in helping local innovation. I am now on a mission to contribute to Canada's startup ecosystem by helping make globally focused companies that are locally headquartered a success."

Originally from Canada, Logan moved to the US to pursue a career in tech in Silicon Valley. Joining Airbnb in 2011 as one of its early engineers, Ian built a multitude of systems, helping grow the engineering team from less than 10 engineers to over 800. His expertise ranges from team culture building to advanced payments engineering and leading groups with high team engagement scores and consistency in delivering outsized business impact.

The app is available for iOS and Android. For more information about Drop, visit http://www.earnwithdrop.com.

About Drop:
Drop is a personalized rewards program focused on bringing value to millennials by making their every day more rewarding. Drop enables the consumer to earn rewards easily by simply spending with the debit and credit cards they link to the app, eliminating the need to scan receipts, enter promo codes or sign up for additional loyalty programs. This intelligent mobile app surfaces relevant offers and rewards based on what users are spending, creating a highly personalized, seamless experience for the consumer. Founded in 2015, Drop has built up a base of over one million millennials while reaching No.2 in the App Store.

For brands featured on the platform like Sephora, Bloomingdales, The Body Shop, Amazon, Under Armour, Casper and Boxed, Drop helps them gain unique insights about consumers that they haven't had access to before.

For more information visit: www.earnwithdrop.com.

SOURCE Drop