Pogo raises $32M in funding to date, backed by Josh Buckley and Mantis, to expand operations and development efforts.

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The startup seeks to use a few tech trends to its advantage. To scale data in exchange for cash, the startup raised $14.8 million in venture capital in the form of a $12.3 million seed round led by Josh Buckley and a previously unannounced $2.5 million pre-seed round. Additionally the startup has money from the founders of Front, Rent the Runway, and, quite fittingly, Honey. Instead, the startup just brings together all existing deals in one place – and it’s that interoperability between different data sources that Wong thinks is the biggest competitive advantage. Over e-mail, Wong said that there are existing market rates for common data fees, but the startup is working on a pricing strategy based on “a lot of greenfield territory that simply isn’t possible today.”“For instance, our ability to serve a location based offer or ad that also takes into account your past purchases allows us to command rates that are many orders of magnitude higher than your typical ad placement,” he continued. So far, the app has been used by “hundreds of thousands of families” and the startup claims it has generated millions of dollars in savings and earnings.“We’re being very intentional about how we think about partnerships here, which is why we want to continue segmenting anonymized market research versus personalized targeting based on your Instagram feed.” If Pogo had its way, you’d get paid every time you stroll down Market Street in San Francisco. Pogo doesn’t have exclusive partnerships with local businesses to have certain cashback feels in exchange for lead generation, a route that some neobanks have gone down. Second, Pogo is a play on the rise of ecommerce tools such as Rakuten and Honey, browser extensions that automatically find cash, coupons and deals in return for your shopping history.