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Fintech startup Birch Finance raises $1 million in funding led by AGP Miami

Birch Finance, the Florida-born startup that helps people reap more rewards from their credit cards, has raised $s million in funding in a round led by angel investor network AGP Miami.

With this new capital, Birch will continue expanding its already robust platform, which currently integrates with more than 19,000 banks and 175 different credit cards. Investors in the round included Kevin Johnson, the former CEO of Ebates, and Frank Azor, the co-founder of Alienware.

Founded in 2015 in Gainesville, Birch relocated to Silicon Valley in fall of 2017. The fintech startup' credit card rewards analysis app is available on web and iOS.

Alexc“Americans collectively miss out on roughly $20 billion in rewards each year by using the wrong cards, but it’s not really their fault,” Birch co-founder and CEO Alex Cohen said in a news release. “Credit card rewards programs are designed to be complex and typically reward only the savviest consumers. We created Birch to help the average person make sense of it all, so that anyone can take full advantage of their rewards programs without being an expert.”

By integrating with credit card providers and banks to track spending habits, Birch gives consumers personalized and detailed reports on their past transactions and recommends the best credit cards to earn the most rewards based on their shopping habits. Using geolocation, Birch also alerts users which card to use for their purchases as they walk into a store.

 “There’s no shortage of personal finance tools that track a user’s spending, but none of them offer any personalized advice, such as which cards are most effective based on the user’s behavior,” said Raul Moas, managing director of AGP Miami. “Birch is an innovative solution that provides an immediate benefit to consumers, so we’re excited to support the team as they set out to change the way people shop and pay.”

In the past year, AGP has been spreading its wings and has been scouting for companies in Gainesville and other parts of the state in addition to South Florida. In the last four years, AGP has grown to nearly 100 active investors and has made more than 24 investments in South Florida companies totaling more than $7 million. Moas was recently named Miami program director for the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

 

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