Miles, a California-based startup that describes itself as a
“universal rewards platform for all forms of travel” has raised $12.5 million
in Series A funding.
Scrum Ventures led the round, with participation from
TransLink Capital, Japan Airlines Innovation Fund, JetBlue Technology Ventures,
TechNexus Venture Collaborative, Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance, Synapse Partners
and several venture firms and individual investors.
The round brings Miles’ total funding to $20 million since
its launch in 2018.
The app allows users to earn miles for all of their travel, whether
by car (as a driver, passenger or ride-share), plane, train, subway, bus, boat,
bicycle or on foot. More sustainable options such as carpools and ride-shares
earn double miles, trains and public transit earn 3x miles and users that bike,
walk or run earn 20x miles.
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Users receive rewards from Miles’ brand partners, with 350
rewards available from more than 200 brands. New brands joining the platform
today include Booking.com, Garmin, Wayfair, Chewy and more. Users can also
donate their miles to participating charities, such as Doctors Without Borders,
Feeding America and The Pride Foundation.
Using predictive alternative intelligence, the platform
enables businesses and brands to offer users relevant, location-based rewards
as they are traveling. Miles says it has delivered more than $200 million in
revenue to its brand partners.
“Miles is the world’s first frequent‐flyer‐like platform
that rewards daily movement, regardless of how or where you travel,” says Miles CEO Jigar Shah.
“Even with travel slowing worldwide during the pandemic,
we’ve more than doubled our rewards marketplace, tripled our revenue and
dramatically increased adoption. Not only are we seeing a record number of
rewards redeemed by our users, we’re also generating increasing revenue for our
brand partners – all while incentivizing greener travel.”
The company plans to use the
funding for research and development, to expand its marketplace and to grow its team. Since launch, Miles
says its users have earned 12 billion miles, redeemed seven million rewards and
realized more than $50 million in savings.
“Miles has not only reimagined travel rewards but created a
platform where mobility is universally rewarded – all while delivering
incredible value to brand partners” said Ryan Mendoza, partner with Scrum
Ventures.
"This is evident in the strong user growth and
retention, engaged brand partners, and numerous business partnerships. We are very excited about
the myriad of opportunities for growth and scale with the company, and how we can support those
efforts. We were an early investor in Miles and are thrilled to lead this investment round and join the
board. We look forward to working closely with Miles as it continues to execute on its vision to build the
world’s first universal rewards platform.”