That stack of random gift cards in your wallet could be turned directly into cash in your bank account, thanks to a Birmingham-based startup.
Prepaid2Cash, which moved its HQ from San Francisco to Birmingham, Alabama’s Innovation Depot back in 2019, has seen rapid growth over the course of the pandemic. “[The pandemic] accelerated our growth given the sheer number of users online who want cash and are willing to use mobile applications to transact,” co-founder and CEO Peter Vogt told Hypepotamus. “We believe this is a very positive tailwind for our company.”
That positive tailwind recently led to a $5.1 million Series A funding round. Benson Capital Partners, a venture capital firm backed by NFL New Orleans Saints and NBA Pelicans owner Gayle Benson, led the round and was joined by Nashville-based Relevance Ventures and Alabama Futures Fund.
“We believe P2C is well-positioned to scale in the fintech space given its security-first, easy-to-use platform,” said Mike Katz, Managing Director of Benson Capital Partners added in a statement. “We were impressed by the management team and are excited to help propel the company to the next level.”
The Series A brings Prepaid2Cash’s investment total to date to $7.2 million.
Vogt told Hypepotamus that the startup processed $25 million worth of gift cards in the last 12 months and has grown its user base to over 225,000.
Prepaid2Cash has also recently jumped into the crypto space. “We have launched a product feature that allows customers to get their funds deposited to their Bitcoin Wallet. We have just started to market this product, but have seen strong adoption with about 10% of our volume going to this channel. We believe crypto will be a meaningful contributor in the future,” added Vogt.
Alabama Innovation
Prepaid2Cash is one of several companies that moved into Alabama over the last year thanks to investment deals with Alabama Futures Fund. Others include data privacy startup datacy and LegalTech startup Case Status.
It has also been a busy 2021 for the overall Alabama tech scene.
Following the success of homegrown supply chain startup Shipt, Bill Smith announced early this year his new rental property startup Landing would move from San Francisco to Birmingham after raising upwards of $145 million to date, according to Crunchbase.
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