Honey (company)
Honey Science Corp., headquartered in Los Angeles, California,[5] operates a browser extension that aggregates and automatically applies online coupons on eCommerce websites.[6] It is a subsidiary of PayPal. Honey's revenue comes from a commission made on user transactions with partnering retailers.[7] When a member makes a purchase from select merchants, Honey shares part of its commission with the member in a cashback program.[8] Users are notified of price drops and price history on selected items sold by participating online stores.[9] Its browser extension is available on Google Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Opera, and Microsoft Edge.[10]
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Subsidiary | |
Industry | Cashback website, online coupons |
Founded | October 2012 |
Founders | George Ruan[1] Ryan Hudson[2] |
Headquarters | Los Angeles, California, United States[3] |
Area served | Canada |
Key people | George Ruan (CEO) Ryan Hudson (Co-founder) |
Number of employees | 209 (worldwide, 2018) |
Parent | PayPal[4] |
Website | joinhoney |
History
Entrepreneurs Ryan Hudson and George Ruan founded Honey[11] in November 2012 in Los Angeles, California, after building a prototype of the browser extension in late October 2012. A bug tester leaked the tool to Reddit, where it went viral.[12] By March 2014, the company had 900,000 organic users.[13]
In September 2019, The LA Clippers' training facility was re-branded as "The Honey Training Center: Home of the LA Clippers" after entering a multi-year partnership with Honey. In addition, Clippers practice jerseys will also display the Honey logo as part of the branding.[14]
Financing history
In 2014, Honey raised $1.8 million in seed money, followed by a $4 million Series A round in 2016. By October 2017, Honey raised a $9 million Series B round.[15]
Honey raised a $26 million Series C round, led by Anthos Capital in March 2017.[16]
By January 2018, Honey raised a total of $40.8 million in venture backing.[17]
On January 6, 2020, it was acquired by PayPal for about $4 billion.[18][19][20]
Marketing
Honey has gained notoriety for taking advantage of heavy YouTube advertising and channel sponsorships for their marketing. Similar to Amazon's Audible and NordVPN, it offers paid sponsorships to popular YouTube channels to expose the service to their viewers.[21] In 2020, Honey launched a web series called "Honey Originals", where Honey partners were interviewed. The most notable segment is "20 Questions with _" and "Add To Cart with _".[22][23]
References
- "Coupon Duo Now Worth $1.5 Billion After Honey's Sale to PayPal". BloombergQuint. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
- "Coupon Duo Now Worth $1.5 Billion After Honey's Sale to PayPal". BloombergQuint. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
- Vincent, Roger. "Online coupon firm Honey taking over historic Coca-Cola plant in Arts District". latimes.com. Retrieved 2019-01-03.
- "Coupon Duo Now Worth $1.5 Billion After Honey's Sale to PayPal". BloombergQuint. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
- Vincent, Roger. "Online coupon firm Honey taking over historic Coca-Cola plant in Arts District". latimes.com. Retrieved 2019-01-03.
- McAlone, Nathan. "14 ways to save money by thinking like a millennial". Business Insider. Retrieved 2019-01-03.
- Rey, Jason Del (2018-04-02). "Honey — the under-the-radar coupon startup — has held talks to raise around $100 million in a new investment". Recode. Retrieved 2019-01-03.
- Kane, Libby. "A struggling dad built an app to buy his kids cheaper pizza — and now his company has 5 million downloads and $40 million". Business Insider. Retrieved 2019-01-03.
- Ellingson, Annlee (January 31, 2018). "How Honey helps users keep their New Year's resolution to save money". American City Business Journals.
- Nield, David. "How to Spot Genuine Discounts During Your Holiday Shopping". Gizmodo. Retrieved 2019-01-03.
- "Coupon Duo Now Worth $69 Billion After Honey's Sale to PayPal". BloombergQuint. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
- Shontell, Alyson. "New Coupon Startup 'Honey' Has Had 9 Successful Investor Meetings In A Row". Business Insider.
- "Honey Introduces A Universal Cart For Online Shoppers Where Savings Are Automatically Applied". TechCrunch.
- Esnaashari, Farbod. "LA Clippers Rename And Renovate Training Facility In Partnership With Tech Company Honey". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-03-12.
- "Honey Science Section Overview". Crunchbase.
- Pierson, David. "Can't find a coupon code? This L.A. start-up does all the work for you". Los Angeles Times.
- Ketchum, Dan. "Got a Problem? Turn It Into a Business Like These 15 Companies". www.gobankingrates.com.
- "PayPal Completes Acquisition of Honey" (Press release). PR Newswire. January 6, 2020.
- Taulli, Tom. "Why PayPal Paid $4 Billion For Honey Science". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
- Peters, Jay (2019-11-20). "PayPal acquires the company behind the Honey deal-finding extension for $4 billion". The Verge. Retrieved 2020-02-25.
- Weiss, Geoff. "Browser Extension 'Honey', A Frequent Shane Dawson And MrBeast Sponsor, Acquired For $4 Billion". Tubefilter. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fKRVDBOsdI&list=PL-rDN1-GBm-JiK4GlDR1lAVLVgpLL-fS1&index=6
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mnhnq7FwPMg&list=PL-rDN1-GBm-JiK4GlDR1lAVLVgpLL-fS1&index=4