Startup Ansa, known for empowering merchants to create and manage their own branded virtual wallets, has successfully completed a $14 million Series A financing round, as per the latest reports.
Leading the investment was Renegade Partners, joined by prior investors Bain Capital Ventures, BoxGroup, and Wischoff Ventures, and newcomer B37 Ventures. Ansa’s fundraising efforts now total nearly $20 million, including a $5.4 million seed round. The company has opted to keep its valuation confidential, merely stating that the valuation multiple was significant.
Remarkably, women investors played a dominant role in the Series A round, contributing up to 95.6% of the funds. Among them were Renegade Partners’ Renata Quintini, Wischoff Ventures’ Nichole Wischoff, Bain Capital’s Christina Melas-Kyriazi, BoxGroup’s Nimi Katragadda, and former Affirm executive Silvija Martincevic.
Ansa, which was established in 2022 by Adyen alumnus Sophia Goldberg and former Affirm software engineer JT Cho, is based in San Francisco and is on a mission to revolutionize digital wallet infrastructure. This infrastructure is designed to assist businesses in handling smaller payments and mitigating the costs associated with high credit card fees on minor transactions.
The company’s CEO, Goldberg, refers to their service as a “wallet-as-a-service,” enabling any merchant to deploy a flexible payment tool under their brand. This service model resembles the Starbucks in-app payment system, which allows customers to preload funds, and merchants to offer incentives or refunds. Ansa claims that its API-first platform can have a wallet up and running in a matter of weeks.
“Branded customer wallets enable merchants to offer a payment solution which fits their use cases better, while driving customer loyalty and frequency,” says Goldberg. She adds that such wallets can not only increase revenue but also reinforce customer retention by integrating rewards and loyalty programs.
Currently, Ansa is targeting coffee shops, quick service restaurants (QSRs), marketplaces, retail, and convenience stores as its primary market segments. The use of branded wallets by these merchants also serves to bypass the hefty fees typically incurred by credit card transactions.
Goldberg highlights the disproportionate impact credit card fees have on small transactions, where a $4 latte can attract fees over 12.5%, compared to the typical e-commerce transaction fee of 2.9% plus $0.30. These fixed fees can significantly erode revenues, especially for merchants operating on thin margins.
In the first quarter of 2024, Ansa has seen its customer base double compared to the previous year, though specific customer and revenue statistics remain undisclosed. The startup’s revenue model includes a combination of platform fees and a markup on transactions.
The recent funding will predominantly support product development and engineering efforts. Ansa, with a team of 12, is in the process of expanding its workforce.
Renegade Partners’ Quintini expressed enthusiasm about the investment, highlighting Ansa’s compatibility with leading payment service providers like Square, Stripe, and Braintree. This compatibility allows new merchants to immediately start enhancing customer loyalty and operational efficiency, delivering a seamless experience akin to the Starbucks app.
