The $5m round was led by Seven Seven Six, the venture capital fund headed by Alexis Ohanian, Night Media, the management company that represents YouTuber MrBeast, and a star-studded roster of investors, including Serena Williams’ Serena Ventures, Casey Neistat, Phil Defranco, Cody Ko, Noel Miller, Ian Borthwick, and Gabriel Leydon.
According to Alex Adelman, CEO and Co-founder of Lolli., “We’re thrilled to be working with Seven Seven Six, Serena Ventures, and a fantastic team of investors in creating the easiest way for people to earn bitcoin when they shop. This is an exciting time and opportunity to accelerate adoption and increase accessibility to bitcoin”
Lolli’s Pre-Series A round follows a $3 million Seed Round led by PathFinder, Founders Fund’s early-stage investment vehicle, and included notable investors such as Ashton Kutcher and Guy Oseary’s Sound Ventures, beauty mogul Michelle Phan, Digital Currency Group, and Bain Capital.
Founded in 2018 by Matt Senter and Alex Adelman, Lolli makes bitcoin more accessible to all by providing a way for anyone to earn free bitcoin rewards on everyday purchases. The company currently offers up to 30% and an average of 7% bitcoin-back rewards at more than 1,000 top retailers and Fortune 500 companies like Kroger, Best Buy, Nike, and Ulta. Lolli users have earned more than $3 million in bitcoin rewards to date.
“Lolli is leading the way for bitcoin adoption. They have a unique chance to engage with an entirely new Bitcoin user base. As someone who has closely followed and participated in the industry, I see this as a crucial turning point to drive value and create opportunity for the mainstream.” said Alexis Ohanian, founder of Seven Seven Six.
Ohanian was also an early investor (in 2012) in major U.S. bitcoin and crypto exchange, Coinbase. Bitcoin is the first and largest cryptocurrency, which recently surpassed a price of $50,000 and proved the best performing asset of 2020, according to Nasdaq.
Ohanian’s wife, superstar Tennis player Serena Williams, who runs Serena Ventures said, “I’m excited to announce my investment in Lolli, a company on a mission to make bitcoin more accessible. Earning and owning bitcoin is a step towards financial inclusivity for all people.”
Reed Duchscher, CEO of Night Media added that his firm is thrilled to help fuel mainstream adoption of bitcoin by investing in Lolli.
“Lolli is revolutionizing the way people get into bitcoin by bridging the gap between everyday shoppers and investors. We’re excited to further this powerful movement with Lolli and believe creators can be an incredible conduit to consumers,” said Reed.
The funding will go towards continued developments of Lolli’s mobile app, facilitating a seamless shopping experience for a growing user base, and international expansion.
