By the spring of 2024, Ibotta had handed American shoppers more than $1.8 billion in cash back on everyday purchases. The Denver company ran a network that pushed digital offers from consumer brands to over 200 million people. Some came through its own rewards app. Many more came through retailers like Walmart and Dollar General, which ran Ibotta offers inside their own loyalty programs. Brands paid Ibotta only when a promotion turned into a sale.

Zing Enterprises Becomes Ibotta

Bryan Leach incorporated the company in 2011 as Zing Enterprises and renamed it Ibotta in 2012. The idea was simple. Brands that make groceries and household goods spend heavily on promotions they cannot measure. Ibotta offered them a deal tied to results: it got paid only when a shopper bought the item. Over time it built the Ibotta Performance Network, which sent one brand offer to Ibotta's own app and to retailer apps at the same moment.

A Walmart-Powered Debut

Ibotta priced its IPO at $88 a share in April 2024 and listed on the New York Stock Exchange as IBTA. The offering raised about $197.8 million for the company, and some existing holders sold shares too. Leach kept about 70 percent of the voting power through high-vote Class B stock. The Walmart deal sat at the center of the pitch, since Walmart ran Ibotta's offers under its own name. Ibotta still trades on the NYSE as IBTA.

Cover: Young Girl Holding a Basket, Berthe Morisot. Art Institute of Chicago, public domain. Chosen for a girl with a shopping basket (everyday purchases).