Swagbucks, a rewards site, announced today that it has raised $60 million, its first round of funding, from Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV).
It also appointed Swagbucks and Prodege executive chairman Chuck Davis as its CEO. Founding CEO Josef Gorowitz will become president. He is also currently a venture partner at Technology Crossover Ventures and executive chairman of The Teaching Company. Davis was previously chairman and CEO of Fandango, where he oversaw the online movie ticket site’s mobile launch.
Swagbucks lets members earn gift cards, loyalty points, and other rewards by using the site to search and shop for products, answer surveys, or play online games. The startup says since it was founded in 2008, it has distributed over $60 million in gift cards, from e-commerce firms like Amazon, Wal-Mart, Target, Starbucks, and Paypal, to its users.
The company says it has been profitable since 2010 and its 2013 revenue was $53 million, a 51% increase from 2012.
Swagbucks’ competitors include RetailMeNot and Coupons.com, both of which recently went public, and eBates, which is reportedly planning an IPO this year.
In an email interview, Davis said that Swagbucks differentiates from its competitors by “offering its members rewards for nearly every activity they already do online – shopping, searching, watching videos, playing games, taking surveys and discovering content.”
“As we continue to grow and the product evolves, it will become more intuitive and personalized which will allow us to offer more value to both the consumers and the advertisers and brands with whom we partner,” he added.
Join 10k+ tech and VC leaders for growth and connections at Disrupt 2025
Netflix, Box, a16z, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Hugging Face, Elad Gil, Vinod Khosla — just some of the 250+ heavy hitters leading 200+ sessions designed to deliver the insights that fuel startup growth and sharpen your edge. Don’t miss the 20th anniversary of TechCrunch, and a chance to learn from the top voices in tech. Grab your ticket before doors open to save up to $444.
Join 10k+ tech and VC leaders for growth and connections at Disrupt 2025
Netflix, Box, a16z, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Hugging Face, Elad Gil, Vinod Khosla — just some of the 250+ heavy hitters leading 200+ sessions designed to deliver the insights that fuel startup growth and sharpen your edge. Don’t miss a chance to learn from the top voices in tech. Grab your ticket before doors open to save up to $444.
The new funding from TCV will be invested in mobile, product development, and expansion into international markets. Davis said that Swagbucks’ website currently offers six activities for members seeking rewards, while its mobile platform includes search, deals and entertainment.
“Our growth plan is to make each of these channels more robust, leveraging technologies intrinsic to mobile such as GPS — as well as to migrate our other channels to mobile in an intuitive and user-friendly experience,” said Davis.
Swagbucks is currently available in the U.S., UK, Canada, and Australia. Davis says that the company plans to expand into other growing markets, with Europe as their first stop.
