Cardlytics Breaks IPO Drought, Ends First Day Up

Cardlytics, the newly public company that runs the cashback programs for 2,000 financial companies — including Bank of America — finished its first day of trading as a public company closing higher than it started.

According to a report in TechCrunch, marketing and financial institution solutions provider Cardlytics closed the regular trading session Friday (Feb. 9) at $13.37, slightly above its $13 initial public offering (IPO) price. The company raised $70 million in its IPO, selling 5.4 million shares. It partners with well-known brands like Starbucks, Airbnb and Whole Foods Markets to provide discounts to banking customers. Bank customers choose the deals they want, which will then be applied automatically wherever they shop.

Cardlytics has reportedly saved customers approximately $230 million so far, though the firm is not yet making money of its own. The company raised close to $200 million in financing from a list of venture capital (VC) firms, including Discovery Capital, Canaan Partners and Polaris Venture Capital, among others, with support dating back to 2009. It reported losses of $75.7 million in 2016 and revenue of $112.8 million. Revenue in 2015 came in at $77.6 million with losses of $40.6 million.

In an interview with TechCrunch, Lynne Laube, Cardlytics’ co-founder and chief operating officer, said the firm plans to ink more advertising deals in the future.

“For every $1, we bring them $30 of influenced sales,” she said, noting the company isn’t infringing on consumer privacy because the data it retains has remained anonymous. Only the banks are privileged to that information.

In October 2015, Cardlytics made a name for itself inking a partnership with Mastercard to ensure U.S. bank consumers are able to seamlessly receive relevant, location-based offers and rewards through their preferred digital channels. With card-linked programs, the purchases consumers make with a U.S.-based debit or credit card automatically result in the cashback reward being deposited into their bank accounts card accounts or via statement credits.