Paris-based fintech Joko raises €10 million to disrupt cashback in Europe

Joko, the cashback app that rewards all the spending of its users, raises €10 million, bringing the total amount raised by the startup to €12 million in two years.

Joko, founded in 2018, allows its users to receive a part of what they spend for free. Whether they are online or in store, Joko is capable of automatically rewarding its users. Food, travel, shopping, beauty, furnishings, DIY, etc. all sectors are represented within the app. The cashback credited to users’ accounts is a real income supplement that boosts their purchasing power. In fact, more than €1 million has already been distributed to users.

At the heart of Joko’s rapid adoption is its incredible simplicity. The app is free, and registration only takes a minute. To be rewarded, users can either connect their bank card to the app – all banks are compatible and the bank linking 100% secure – or use the Google Chrome web browser extension. Then users don’t need to take any other action, because bank transactions at partner brands are automatically detected and the user is notified when cashback is credited.

Since its launch on App Store and Google Play Store, more than 500,000 users have joined Joko to benefit from cashback offers and more than 1,000 retailers have partnered with Joko to reward them daily. In total, Joko’s users have collected over €1 million in cashback from well-known brands.

The revolution lays in the fact that, unlike other cashback solutions, Joko rewards its users for both online and in-store purchases. Indeed, the technology developed by Joko is based on the Open Data initiative enabled by the PSD2 regulation (Payment Services Directive n°2). In France, 90% of spending is still done in-store. The potential is therefore 10 times greater, particularly for users.

“Our mission at Joko”, says Xavier Starkloff, co-founder and CEO of Joko, “is to make everyone’s life more rewarding, and make sure that part of their spending ‘goes back into their pockets’. If we were already convinced that everyone, everywhere and at all ages, likes to be rewarded, the current context and the uncertainty that can weigh on the purchasing power of the French has only strengthened our value proposition. Our users tell us that the additional income generated by Joko makes a clear and appreciated difference in their daily lives”.

For retailers, launching offers on Joko means acquiring new customers, building loyalty, and watching their turnover increase daily. Over 1,000 merchants have already chosen Joko to reward their customers, including Carrefour, H&M, Asos, Apple and Nike. For retailers, Joko’s value proposition is simple: acquire new customers and retain them at a low and controllable cost thanks to an engaged community (Joko users connect to the app on average 4 times a week) and on highly qualified data (more than 3 billion euros of transactions already analyzed).

The business impact for merchants using the app is significant, with customer acquisition costs halved on average and a 20% increase in average shopping baskets and purchasing frequency.

Nicolas Salat-Baroux, co-founder and CRO of Joko, explains: “All retailers and pure players aim at acquiring new customers and retaining them at a lower cost. With Joko, we offer them the simplest, smartest and most profitable solution based on a new and as of yet unexploited data that we master perfectly: payment data. No other marketing solution on the market today allows for drive-to-store, on a pay-per-sale model and with an exact measurement of the turnover generated online and offline. This is precisely what we offer to retailers and this is why the adoption of Joko is so strong”.

Joko’s success in France is just a starting point for the team, which intends to offer its solution to all European consumers very soon. The Open Banking regulation on which the FinTech relies – the PDS2 – is indeed. Strengthened by the success of its solution in France, the startup is equipping itself with the resources that match its ambitions thanks to this new fundraising including Partech and Axeleo, in a deal advised by Alpha Capital Partners UK (Marc Oiknine).

Joko also plans to double its workforce by the end of the year. Positions are open across all teams: Tech, Product, Marketing, Support, Sales, Operations, Account Management, and more.