Claim Debuts Rewards-Based Social Network With $4 Million in Funding

Rewards-based social network Claim has emerged from stealth with $4 million in new funding.

The company announced the seed round on its blog Wednesday (Dec. 20), as well as plans to roll out its platform across the U.S. in 2024 after being tested with more than 10,000 college students in Boston this year.

“On Claim, friends earn cash back, exchange rewards, and redeem together by shopping at their favorite brands. The result is a social network that focuses on real-world value, authenticity, and communal experience — rather than manufactured content and reposts.”

According to the blog post, users’ Claim profiles are based on where they shop, with the platform using verified credit card transactions, “so in a world of sponsored posts, your status on Claim actually means something.”

Users interact on Claim via “multiplayer rewards.” That means if a user loves a certain store or restaurant, and has a friend who hasn’t tried it yet, the user can send them a reward from that business.

For businesses, Claim says its platform allows them to reach consumers without bombarding them with unwanted ads.

“Consumers discover brands on Claim via rewards from friends,” the blog post said. “For high-growth brands, this word-of-mouth matching creates the perfect introduction to a new customer — a reward from a friend is always better than an ad from an influencer.”

The launch comes as younger consumers — the type Claim has tested its product with — are increasingly turning to social networks as a shopping destination.

“Generation Z consumers are more likely to use Instagram and TikTok to search for products than other generations,” PYMNTS wrote earlier this month. “They often turn to social media to browse brands before using Google. Their interaction within the social network often leads to a purchase, more so than other age groups.”

And when these consumers may be purchasing fewer items via this method, they tend to be of higher value, consisting of clothing, beauty products, fitness items and consumer electronics.

That’s according to research into Gen Z social media usage from “Tracking the Digital Payments Takeover: Monetizing Social Media,” a PYMNTS/Amazon Web Services collaboration.