Toronto-headquartered retail tech company Flipp has acquired Reebee, a Kitchener-based digital flyer marketplace that operates in the same space. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Flipp boasts customers like Walmart, Macy’s, Dollar General, and Lowe’s.
Reebee, which has a headcount of around 80, is expected to maintain its brand and employee base as it operates as a Flipp subsidiary.
Founded in 2012 by Michal Martyniak and Tobiasz Dankiewicz, Reebee is a digital advertising platform that helps consumers discover local products. The company claims that its platform has over 2 million monthly Canadian users.
Reebee received early support through the University of Waterloo’s Velocity program, as well as Communitech’s former Rev accelerator and California-based Y Combinator.
Michael Silverman, CEO at Flipp, told grocery magazine Canadian Grocer that Flipp has been aware of Reebee for a long time, and have been impressed with what it has done. He told the outlet that there is “very minimal” overlap between Flipp and Reebee, which have a combined user base of nearly six million.
“Our apps, for a variety of nuanced reasons and various geographies throughout Canada, spoke more effectively to one group or another,” he said to Canadian Grocer. Reebee, he cited, has traditionally had what Silverman describes as a “slightly stronger” business in Quebec.
Flipp was founded in 2017 and provides a mobile shopping tool to help users cut down on costs across a variety of categories including grocery, home improvement, electronics, pharmacy, apparel, pets, and more. Flipp previously received a $61 million investment from General Atlantic.
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With over 50 million app downloads, Flipp has become one of the largest retail savings marketplace in North America. Flipp boasts customers like Walmart, Macy’s, Dollar General, and Lowe’s. Including the team it has anchored in Toronto, the company has over 250 employees worldwide.
Flipp announced the acquisition as part of the launch of its shopper consideration platform. The company noted that the platform gives retailers, brands, and publishers the ability to curate and distributie local shopping content to millions of shoppers every week.
According to Flipp, Reebeee is Canada’s second largest digital savings distribution channel, and its integration significantly increases Flipp’s reach across the country.
Flipp decided to acquire Reebee as Canada’s retail tech sector sees more consolidations. In May, Vancouver-based Fobi AI entered an agreement to acquire grocery couponing app Basket, following its acquisition of Qples in September last year for $3.2 million.
VerticalScope acquired bargain hunting and coupon website RedFlagDeals.com in 2018, transferring the ownership of the company from Yellow Pages to Vertical Scope. RedFlagDeals was previously acquired by Yellow Pages in 2010.
Featured image from Flipp’s website.
