Portfolio Company in the News: David Nelson, Bumped
David Nelson, Founder and CEO of Bumped, began his journey with his first fintech company—Giftango—bringing the mobile gift card to market. He worked very closely with the rewards and incentives industry, which he saw had been stagnant for a very long time.
In the past two decades, Giftango had iteration after iteration of the same core concept—cash back, gift cards, points schemes, coupons, and miles. Bumped represents an entirely new mechanism of reward: ownership. Ownership means having a stake in the brands you care about. It shows support for the companies you want to do well and succeed.
David knew that if he could come up with something that could alter that landscape, it would be worthwhile to build another startup. He also recognizes Dan Rosen at Commerce Ventures as well, who had a great deal of the inspiration behind this idea.
The Bumped demographic is broad. David likes ideas that have a comprehensive market and can impact a vast group of folks, and Bumped applies to anyone who is interested in ownership. Bumped targets not only the people that already understand the stock market, but also the people who don't know where to start when it comes to investing.
There is a massive Corporate Social Responsibility element to this idea. Companies have an opportunity to create a loyal following while also creating an opportunity for their customers who may have never owned shares before.
When people have the chance to own fractional shares of stock without putting additional capital at risk, they have a chance to learn about the market and see that it may not be as complex as they imagined. The addressable market here is outstanding.
|
