Paribus

Paribus was a price-tracking service founded in 2014 that monitored online purchase receipts to identify opportunities for price-adjustment claims.

History

Paribus was founded in 2014 by Eric Glyman and Karim Atiyeh.[1] The company is based in Brooklyn, New York.[1] The name is derived from the Latin phrase ceteris paribus, meaning "all other things being equal."

The founders developed the concept in 2013 to simplify the process of receiving a refund following a price drop.[2][3] and launched a beta version of the service in September 2014, with a public introduction at TechCrunch Disrupt New York on 5 May 2015.[1][4] Paribus released its iOS app on August 6, 2015,[5] and its Android app on April 28, 2016.[6]

In October 2015 Paribus announced a seed funding round of about $2.1 million following participation in Y Combinator and TechCrunch Startup Battlefield. The round was reported to have been led by General Catalyst Partners and also included Greylock Partners, Foundation Capital, Soma Capital and Mick Johnson.[7]

In October 2016, it was announced that Paribus had been acquired by Capital One.[8][9] Following the acquisition, the service was integrated into Capital One’s suite of shopping and price-protection features; specific product changes and service availability have varied over time. As of January 2023, Capital One discontinued the Capital One Price Protection feature of Capital One Shopping.[10]

Software

Paribus connected to a user's email account to scan messages for receipts from e-commerce retailers.[11][12] When a qualifying price adjustment opportunity was detected, the service submitted claims on the user’s behalf to request refunds or adjustments according to the retailer’s policies.[13][14][15] It was also able to detect coupons or promo codes that could have been applied to a purchase, and have the coupon redeemed retroactively.[16][17] The app is free.[18] After the acquisition closed with Capital One, Paribus users began to keep 100% of the savings. It was available on the iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, and on Android smartphones and tablets.[19]

At its launch, the service worked with 18 major retailers, including Amazon.com, Best Buy, Walmart, Target, Macy's and Newegg.[7][20] This list had grown to 29 retailers in the United States by December 2017. The company states that the average user saves between $60 and $100 per year.[11] As of October 2016, it had over 700,000 users.[8]

See also

• Tech companies in the New York metropolitan area

External links