Accelerating momentum for universal travel rewards platform with new investments from Scrum Ventures and TransLink Capital.
REDWOOD CITY, CALIF. – Miles announced $12.5 million in Series A funding, led by Scrum Ventures, with participation from TransLink Capital and Japan Airlines (JAL Innovation Fund), TechNexus Venture Collaborative, Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance (MS&AD), Synapse Partners and several other prominent individual investors (see below). This capital raise brings Miles’ total funding to $20 million, with other notable investors including JetBlue Technology Ventures, Liil Ventures, Porsche Ventures, Panasonic, SAIC, Sony Innovation Fund, Urban Us (VC), and Gabe Klein (Co-founder CityFi).
Since its initial launch in 2018, Miles has quickly built momentum as the first universal rewards platform for all forms of travel – with rapid adoption on iOS and Android as well as a strong partner ecosystem of more than 200 leading brands offering 350 personalized rewards. In total so far, Miles users have earned 12 billion miles, redeemed 7 million rewards, realizing more than $50 million in savings.
The Miles platform allows anyone with a smartphone to earn miles for all of their travel, regardless of their mode of transportation. Whether by car (as a driver, passenger or rideshare), plane, train, subway, bus, boat, bicycle, or on foot, Miles effortlessly awards your commute – with alternative or more sustainable modes of transportation rewarded even further. If a user carpools or takes a rideshare service (i.e. Lyft or Uber), they earn 2x miles. Users who ride the train or public transit receive 3x the miles. Ride a bike, walk or run and earn a bonus of 20x miles.
Designed to work seamlessly in the background, the Miles app automatically logs each trip from point A to B and the mode of transportation used, while keeping data completely private. Users can easily view their miles earned per trip and receive personalized rewards with popular brands and small businesses across categories – redeemable either online or at a nearby store. Consumers can also participate in weekly and monthly activity challenges to unlock gift card rewards with retailers like Amazon, or donate their miles to raise money for charity.
“Miles is the world’s first frequent-flyer-like platform that rewards daily movement, regardless of how or where you travel,” said Miles CEO Jigar Shah. “Even with travel slowing worldwide during the pandemic, we’ve more than doubled our rewards marketplace, tripled our revenue and dramatically increased adoption. Not only are we seeing a record number of rewards redeemed by our users, we’re also generating increasing revenue for our brand partners – all while incentivizing greener travel.”
Delivering Value for More Than 200 Brands and Their Customers
New reward partners Miles is announcing today include, Acorns, Booking.com, Buffalo Wild Wings, Chewy, Farfetch, Fetch rewards, FuboTV, Garmin, hims, hers, HP, Lego, Pandora, Rover, Sam’s Club, Stash, Smile Direct Club and Wayfair. In total, Miles now has more than 200 reward partners with other notable brands offering rewards on the platform including ButcherBox, Craftsy, Getaroom, Harry's Razors, Home Chef, Noom, Restaurant.com, Shipt, Thrive Market, as well as gift cards from Amazon, Starbucks, Target and Walmart. In addition, users can donate their miles to the charity of their choice including Doctors Without Borders, Feeding America, The Pride Foundation, The National Breast Cancer Foundation or Chewy Gives Back.
“Miles has not only reimagined travel rewards but created a platform where mobility is universally rewarded – all while delivering incredible value to brand partners” said Ryan Mendoza, Partner with Scrum Ventures. "This is evident in the strong user growth and retention, engaged brand partners, and numerous business partnerships. We are very excited about the myriad of opportunities for growth and scale with the company, and how we can support those efforts. We were an early investor in Miles and are thrilled to lead this investment round and join the board. We look forward to working closely with Miles as it continues to execute its vision to build the world’s first universal rewards platform.”
By leveraging the Miles’ predictive AI platform, businesses and brands can deliver value to customers by offering to meet their Near Future needs as they travel, such as when someone needs a meal, a ride, or is likely to go shopping or purchase entertainment. This leads to increased customer loyalty and repeat visits, as well as increased sales. Since launch, Miles has delivered more than $200 million in revenue to its brand partners – with the introduction of donations, raffles, gift cards and activity challenges leading to a 15x increase in miles redeemed by users year-over-year.
“The sharing economy has forever changed the way people travel and interact with brands while mobile,” shares Paresh Jain, Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer of Miles. “We’ve created a new currency and marketplace where brands compete to present users with relevant, local rewards in the moment. And this is just the first phase of our business. We’ll be expanding to new categories in the near future, creating opportunities for users to redeem their miles for rewards with new transportation partners and brands around the globe.”
With this Series A funding, Miles will continue to invest in research and development, expand its marketplace, and grow its team to accelerate growth and deliver value to its partners and user base. In addition to the venture firms noted above, individual investors included in the funding round include Vikram Malhotra, Chairman of the Americas with McKenzie; Ashish Toshniwal, CEO of Y Media Labs; Viral Bajaria, Chief Technology Officer of 6Sense; Chenxi Wang, Managing Partner, Rainwater Capital; and Harris Barton, serial investor and former All-Pro Lineman for The San Francisco 49ers.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
