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.

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.

500Friends

AcquiredYC W10

San Francisco, US · Founded 2009 · 51 employees · 2 known investors

Find your way into 500Friends

998 people in our graph share verified history with the 500Friends team — schools, employers, funds. One of them is your warm intro.

Wesley Chanunlockedknows Hong Hu · together at Flexport (overlapped)

×4knows the team · via Goldman Sachs

knows the team · via Partnerize

×4knows the team · via University of California, Berkeley

×2knows the team · via Brandeis University

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 Software MarketingUnited States of AmericaAmerica / Canada

Founders & leadership· Y Combinator alumni (W10)

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

Hong Hu inFounderHong Hu directed engineering and led Flexport's China operations before founding 500Friends, which was later acquired by Merkle.

Justin Yoshimura inFounderJustin 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

MATT GILBERT inSenior 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

ERIC CHINBoard director

Investors · 2

Quest Venture PartnersMenlo Park · $100K – $1.5M

Y CombinatorSan Francisco · $500K

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.

In the news

500friends (YC W10) raises $5M Series Bforbes.com · Mar 2013

500Friends Raises $5 Million Series B, Expands E-Commerce Loyalty Serviceforbes.com · Mar 2013

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.
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.