New York-based Irish firm Imprint raises $75m in funding round

Irish-founded, co-branded payment provider Imprint has raised $75 million in a new round of funding that will allow the company to continue to grow its business and work with global brands.

The Series B funding round was led by Ribbit Capital with participation from previous investors Thrive Capital, and Kleiner Perkins, along with Lachy Groom and Moore Specialty Credit.

New York-based Imprint was founded in 2020 by Daragh Murphy from Clane, Co Kildare. Mr Murphy, who studied law at University College Dublin before moving to New York, previously served as vice-president of operations and strategy at WeWork. The company partners with brands to design, launch and manage co-branded credit card programmes.

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Among its partners are Holiday Inn Club Vacations, Horizon Hobby and Westgate Resorts, with the company establishing a leadership role in grocery and travel rewards programmes. These schemes can help generate more sales for companies, with a 30 per cent increase in basket size, and a 12 per cent increase in shopping frequency.

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Imprint plans to launch programmes in new markets in the next six months, with the ability to get fully featured ones up and running within three months, but said it would continue to focus on “disciplined growth”.

“Imprint is the modern alternative to legacy banks in the co-branded credit card market,” said Mr Murphy, chief executive of the company. “We are proud to help great brands create deeper relationships with their customers and drive more customer loyalty. This additional funding further strengthens our balance sheet and empowers us to continue to scale our existing programmes and launch new programmes with the world’s great brands.”

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The funding will allow the company to work on disrupting the co-branded credit card market in the US, which has been dominated by legacy banks that have been slow to embrace technology, the company said.

“Daragh and the seasoned leadership team he has recruited have built a platform that is winning in the traditional co-branded credit card market and delivering real value to brands and customers alike,” said Nick Huber, general partner at Ribbit Capital.

Imprint raised $38 million in a Series A round in 2021, which was co-led by Stripe, and $14 million in a prior seed round earlier that year.