LevelUp

Last updated
LevelUp
LevelUp logo.svg
Type of business Private
Type of site
 Mobile Payments, Online food ordering (delivery and pickup)
Available inEnglish
Dissolved September 30, 2021;4 years ago (2021-09-30)
Successor Grubhub Direct
Headquarters
Boston, Massachusetts
,
United States
Area served Worldwide
Founder Seth Priebatsch
Employees200
URL www.thelevelup.com
RegistrationRequired
LaunchedMarch 2011;14 years ago (2011-03)
Current statusInactive

LevelUp was an American white-label platform for restaurants offering mobile ordering, QR-code payments and loyalty/CRM tools. It was created by Boston-based startup SCVNGR. Grubhub announced its acquisition of LevelUp for US$390 million in July 2018 and closed the deal on September 13, 2018. [1] [2] Post-acquisition, LevelUp’s technology was integrated into Grubhub’s restaurant-facing products, including the self-service Grubhub Direct launched in 2021. The standalone LevelUp consumer app was discontinued on September 30, 2021. [3] [4]

Contents

History

LevelUp was initially launched in March 2011, [5] and operated for its first 3 months as a daily deals platform. [6] In July 2011, LevelUp shifted away from daily deals to focus exclusively on facilitating mobile payments. [7] In July 2013, around 200,000 users and 3,000 companies were using LevelUp. [8] In October 2014, around 14,000 stores were using LevelUp. [9] In May 2017, they announced that they had raised $50 million in funding, with over 50,000 locations and more than 200 brands using Levelup. [10]

Overview

The LevelUp mobile application for iPhone, Android and Windows Phone allowed registered users to securely link their debit or credit card to a unique QR code displayed within the app. To pay with LevelUp, users scanned the QR code on their phone at LevelUp terminals located at local businesses who accept LevelUp as a form of payment. [11]

Some merchants that accepted LevelUp as a form of payment also offered monetary savings to users. [12] Users are given “First-Time Visit Specials” the first time they made a transaction at the merchant's location. Users could also unlock "credit" to a merchant's store after spending a certain amount at the merchant's location. [7]

As of June 2016, LevelUp was available for businesses in the Boston, [5] Chicago, [11] Washington DC, Northern Virginia, Philadelphia, [7] St. Louis, New York City, [7] Atlanta, San Francisco, [7] Dallas, San Diego, Minneapolis, Montgomery, Kansas City, Seattle, and Wilmington (North Carolina) areas.

In early 2018, the company announced the release of Broadcast, enabling restaurant brands to reach new customers by allowing them to browse live menus, order ahead and pay directly from high-traffic apps such as Facebook, Messenger, Yelp, Foursquare, Amazon Alexa and Chase Pay. [13]

As of September 30, 2021, the LevelUp app is no longer available. [14]

References

  1. ↑ Ha, Anthony (July 25, 2018). "Grubhub acquires payments and loyalty company LevelUp for $390M". TechCrunch.
  2. ↑ "Grubhub Completes Acquisition of LevelUp" (Press release). Grubhub Newsroom. September 13, 2018.
  3. ↑ "Grubhub Unveils Grubhub Direct, a Commission-Free Platform to Help Restaurants Reach Loyal Diners and Build their Brands Online" (Press release). Grubhub/PR Newswire. May 12, 2021.
  4. ↑ "When will I no longer be able to use the LevelUp app?". LevelUp Support. August 20, 2021. Retrieved October 21, 2025.
  5. 1 2 Kirsner, Scott (March 11, 2011). "Test-driving SCVNGR's new LevelUp app for local discounts". Boston Globe . Retrieved June 14, 2016.
  6. ↑ Jennifer Van Grove (10 March 2011). "SCVNGR Pilots New Hybrid Mobile App for Local Merchant Deals With Game Mechanics". Mashable.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Sutter, John D. (12 October 2011). "LevelUp app aims to keep coupon users coming back". CNN.
  8. ↑ Chen, Brian X. (July 12, 2012). "LevelUp Tries Dropping the Transaction Fee for Mobile Payments". The New York Times . Retrieved June 14, 2016.
  9. ↑ Shontell, Alyson (April 16, 2014). "Payment Startup LevelUp Thinks It Has Found A Way To Charge Merchants A 0% Credit Card Processing Fee". Business Insider . Retrieved June 14, 2016.
  10. ↑ Ainger, Neil (May 16, 2017). "LevelUp mobile app gets $50 million in latest fintech fundraising round". CNBC . Retrieved March 14, 2017.
  11. 1 2 Wong, Wailin (February 16, 2012). "Loyalty program LevelUp to launch in Chicago". Chicago Tribune . Retrieved June 14, 2016.
  12. ↑ Martinez, Edecio (August 29, 2011). "LevelUp challenges Groupon's model with trio of deals". CBS News . Retrieved June 14, 2016.
  13. ↑ Whitten, Sarah (2018-01-09). "LevelUp rolls out new service for restaurants hoping to snag new customers". CNBC. Retrieved 2021-02-11.
  14. ↑ "When will I no longer be able to use the LevelUp app?". support.thelevelup.com. August 20, 2021. Retrieved 2024-05-30.

Further reading

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