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500Friends

AcquiredYC W10

San Francisco, US · Founded 2009 · 51 employees · 5 known investors

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500Friends, now part of Merkle Loyalty Solutions, provides strategy, software, and analytics services to help customer-facing businesses design and manage loyalty programs that increase retention and revenue.

Enterprise SoftwareMarketingUnited States of AmericaAmerica / Canada

Founders & leadership· Y Combinator alumni (W10)

500Friends was founded in 2009 by Hong Hu and Justin Yoshimura.

HH
Hong HuVice President2009–2017Hong Hu directed engineering and led Flexport's China operations before founding 500Friends, which was later acquired by Merkle.
JYJustin Yoshimura
Justin YoshimuraCEO2010–2016Justin Yoshimura founded 500Friends, a loyalty and retention marketing platform for retailers that merged with Merkle in 2014. He previously built and sold a marketplace for unlocked cell phones at age 19, and has invested in early-stage companies across consumer internet and SaaS.30 Under 30 2012
MGMATT GILBERT
MATT GILBERTSenior Vice President & General Manager, Loyalty Solutions Group2014–2016Matt Gilbert held C-level positions at multiple public and venture-backed companies, including CEO of Pepperjam (which he grew to $15M EBITDA before its acquisition by Partnerize) and co-founder/COO of 500Friends (which raised $12M and was acquired by Merkle). He previously served as SVP of revenue at Webloyalty, where he scaled global revenue from $90M to $300M, and in senior roles at IAC subsidiaries including Ask.com and IAC Advertising Solutions.

Board

EC
ERIC CHINBoard director

Investors · 5

Y Combinatorlisted by Y CombinatorSan Francisco · $500K

How we know: the Y Combinator directory · open dataset · 5k.vc investor directory · Not right? Tell us

Crosslink CapitalreportedMenlo Park · $1M – $9M

How we know: Y Combinator's founder network · Not right? Tell us

GoAhead VenturesreportedMenlo Park · $500K – $1M

How we know: Y Combinator's founder network · Not right? Tell us

Intel CapitalreportedSanta Clara · $1M – $20M

How we know: Y Combinator's founder network · Not right? Tell us

Reported raises · per SEC filings

Form D private placements

$6M disclosed across 1 round · 2012

▶$6MraisedMar 2012 · 36 investors · Other
Rule 506(b)
Officers, directors & promoters on the filing
  • MATT GILBERTExecutive Officer, Director
  • JUSTIN YOSHIMURAExecutive Officer, Director
  • ERIC CHINDirector
Offering amount
$6M
Amount sold
$6M
First sale
Mar 2012
Incorporated
Corporation, Delaware, 2009
Federal exemptions
06
Full filing on SEC EDGAR ↗

Source: SEC EDGAR Form D. Amounts as filed; amended filings shown once at their latest values.

Founder mafia

4 people who came through 500Friends went on to found or lead other companies.

Dave SelingerAdvisorFounded Richrelevance +1Chad EplingBoard AdvisorFounded MamentaMATT GILBERTExecutive Officer, DirectorFounded PartnerizeJustin YoshimuraCEOFounded CSC Generation

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Companies working in the same space as 500Friends.

Legal entities · 1

corporate structure
500Friends, Inc.

Frequently asked questions

What does 500Friends do?
500Friends, now part of Merkle Loyalty Solutions, provides strategy, software, and analytics services to help customer-facing businesses design and manage loyalty programs that increase retention and revenue.
Who founded 500Friends?
500Friends was founded by Hong Hu, Justin Yoshimura in 2009.
Who are 500Friends's investors?
500Friends's investors include Quest Venture Partners, Y Combinator, Crosslink Capital, GoAhead Ventures, Intel Capital.
How much funding has 500Friends raised?
500Friends has disclosed $6M raised across 1 round.
Where is 500Friends headquartered?
500Friends is headquartered in San Francisco, US.