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Tag: Giftango

With Portland startup Bumped, buying stuff can also have you buying stock

Rick Turoczy on April 13, 2018

You don’t hear as much about it as I would like, but I love the small and scrappy fintech startup community in Portland. What started with companies like Simple has spawned any number of interesting takes on banking, financing, and investing. Even the cofounder of Acorns—which enables folks to round up purchase prices to invest small increments of money—has a Portland connection. (He graduated from Lewis & Clark.) So you can imagine my excitement when I heard that Giftango founder David Nelsen was getting back in the startup game with a fintech play. And now, it’s come out of stealth. Meet Bumped.

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Virtual gift cards mean real cash for Portland’s Giftango, in the form of $5 million in funding

Portland Oregon based Giftango just secured more than $5 million in Series B funding

Rick Turoczy on October 7, 2010

Even in this economy, gifts and rewards are big business. And few companies know that better than Portland’s Giftango, a company looking to simplify the distribution and management of “stored value” by helping that industry transition from physical gift cards to virtual ones.

And from the looks of things, other folks are liking what they’re doing. You see, Giftango just secured more than $5 million in Series B funding. Read More

What’d you get me? Portland-based Giftango signs Amazon, JC Penney, Lowe’s, Nike, and a slew of other big brands for virtual gift cards

Rick Turoczy on July 28, 2010

Gift cards have become the de facto “not sure what to get you” gift for many folks. And when it comes to rewarding employees for a job well done, companies are no different.

But sometimes, managing to deliver a piece of plastic to a bunch of employees is not only impractical, it’s downright expensive and time consuming. That’s when companies need to go virtual. And that’s when Portland startup Giftango becomes the perfect solution—especially given that its virtual gift cards can be delivered via email or mobile device. Read More

OEN Venture Northwest 2009: Recapping pitches from Giftango, Elemental, Prolifiq, ShopIgniter, and Second Porch

Now, Venture Northwest isn’t a tech-centric thing. It’s a startup thing. But there were some interesting tech companies that pitched. So I thought I’d recap for you. Or more appropriately, steal borrow my own recaps from the Venture Northwest guest posts I submitted to TechFlash.

Rick Turoczy on October 30, 2009

I had the opportunity to attend Venture Northwest, Oregon Entrepreneurs Network‘s annual pitch day for early stage startups. You know, kind of like a DEMO or a TechCrunch 50. No cash prizes. But a great deal of opportunity to score some cash, given that the folks at Venture Northwest have the opportunity to pitch their ideas  in front of a roomful of potential investors from throughout the angel and venture capital communities.

Now, Venture Northwest isn’t a tech-centric thing. It’s a startup thing. But there were some interesting tech companies that pitched. So I thought I’d recap for you. Or more appropriately, steal borrow my own recaps from the Venture Northwest guest posts I submitted to TechFlash. Read More

Twas the night before Venture Northwest: Giftango finds $1.4 million under the tree

Northwest Innovation and Paid Content unwrapping gifts a little early by reporting that the Giftango had secured $1.4 million of a potential $2.1 million first round.

Rick Turoczy on October 29, 2009

Sometimes, you get to open gifts before the big day. Such is the case with Portland-based Giftango who—as they prepare to take the stage at Venture Northwest on Thursday—had Northwest Innovation and Paid Content unwrapping gifts a little early by reporting that the Giftango had secured $1.4 million of a potential $2.1 million first round.

That’s a respectable chunk of change for a Portland-area startup—especially one that might not be on our respective RADARs.

So what do they do? Read More