• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, March 24, 2024

Ibotta, known for helping brands provide cashback deals to consumers, launched a experiential campaign as it prepares to take the company through an initial public offering (IPO).

The idea is to increase brand awareness and attract new users who might not be aware of the savings potential that an app like Ibotta can offer as the company prepares to go public.

The campaign -- Make It Rain, supported at interactive art installations nationwide -- ran at the Oculus in NYC last week. It will move to Chicago’s Union Station during the first week in April, and the Ball Arena in Denver in late April.

Ibotta CMO Rich Donahue estimates more than 50 million consumers use the company’s services, "with about $1.8 billion credited to their accounts.”

Consumers at the event are gifted cash-back opportunities through augmented reality (AR) experiences, as many feel the pressure of inflation and rising prices that eat into their budgets.

Life-size installations will simulate white, puffy clouds where visitors can walk through the space through the company’s first augmented reality (AR) experience.

Prize amounts range from $2 to $100 when signing up for Ibotta with the AR referral code. The company has been working with influencers to help bring attention to the campaign. 

The IPO filed on March 22 outlines Ibotta’s business model, which delivers mobile promotions for brands through rewards and rebate using artificial intelligence (AI).

Promotions for more than 850 different clients, representing more than 2,400 different CPG brands, such as Coca-Cola, according to its filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The company reported a net income of $38 million on revenue of $320 million for 2023, compared with a net loss of $55 million on revenue of $211 million the previous year.

The filing details how Ibotta uses technology to serve offers. It receives “a large volume of item-level purchase data through our secure point-of-sale (POS) integrations with 85 different retailers as of December 31, 2023.”

Using this data, Ibotta builds a profile of each consumer based on what they have bought in the past and how they have responded to various price promotions.

From there, it builds recommendations that are driven by machine learning and designed to create personalized savings experiences for each consumer. The more data, the smarter the recommenders become.

Ibotta turned a profit last year. The company said it will disclose proposed terms in its IPO later this year.