Ramp founder and CEO Karim Atiyeh began his latest company to help companies save money wherever possible.
Atiyeh’s previous venture, Paribus, focused on helping every day consumers save money on small purchases through an app that spots deals. Ramp takes that to the next level, allowing companies to streamline expenses and accounting and pre-approve certain expenses.
Ramp comes on the heels of Paribus, Karim Atiyeh’s previous venture
Atiyeh is no stranger to saving people money. After a year-long stint as an adviser at One Zero Capital, Atiyeh helped found and was the CTO of Paribus, which was eventually sold to Capital One in 2019. Paribus helps consumers capitalize on their savings and not miss out on deals by scanning receipts and getting the customer a refund of the difference.
Initially, many thought companies would not want to partner with Paribus due to the potential loss of revenue. However, the company’s other co-founder Eric Glyman says the benefits outweigh the costs.
“The abandoned shopping cart problem is huge,” he explains to CNBC. “…When you get a few dollars back, you realize, ‘I’m going to shop at Amazon or Macy’s every single time, because I trust this store.’”
Atiyeh teamed up with Glyman to drive forward Ramp Financial in 2019. The company has raised millions in funding, including $150 million from Goldman Sachs just in the past month. In just 18 months, Ramp reached $100 million in spend on its platform, according to TechCrunch.
Karim Atiyeh has entrepreneurship in his blood
Atiyeh completed a Bachelors degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering and a Masters in Computer Science at Harvard University. He worked with Y Combinator, a startup accelerator, which helped him and Glyman jump-start Paribus. “I’m an engineer at heart,” Atiyeh tells Harvard’s SEAS Office of Communications. “So for me, the most exciting part of [the startup] has been solving challenges that no one has solved before.”
Atiyeh’s brother Marc Atiyeh is also an entrepreneur. In fact, he worked with Karim on Paribus as Head of Growth. Since then, Marc has moved on to Clarity Money and Pawp. Clarity Money, bought out by Goldman Sachs, is a financial literacy and management app at which Atiyeh worked on User Acquisition, Marketing, Operations, and Marketing. Pawp, established in 2019, is a telehealth platform for your pets that provides access to vets, an emergency protection fund, and vet-backed resources for a low monthly fee.
Ramp provides benefits other cards do not
Ramp is both a spend management platform and a corporate card. It helps companies keep track of and minimize their spending. It also allows companies to pre-approve certain spending and onboard employees quickly and efficiently. Requests are streamlined to email, SMS, or Slack and provides account expense reports quickly and completely. Ramp also analyzes company spending to “trim wasteful spend” and allow companies to cut their costs where necessary.
In addition, Ramp offers the “highest cashback on any corporate card” while not charging late fees, foreign-transaction fees, or fees per number of users.
“Ramp is hands down the best corporate credit card,” says Zach Reitano, co-founder of telehealth company Ro, “No other company has helped us spend less while also providing an incredible experience for our finance team and employees.”
Learn more about Ramp here.
