360 Incentives smothers incentive programs with $7.65M and happiness

360 Incentives founder Jason Atkins is changing the world one incentive program at a time. Today, this “small-town startup” from Whitby, Ontario received $7.65 million in growth incentives of its own.

360 Incentives provides a software-as-a-service platform that large businesses can use to create, measure, and manage marketing and sales initiatives such as promotions, sales “spiffs”, rebates, and loyalty rewards. From the dashboard, users are able to automate certain activities, stay on top of their programs, and react to events in real time.

“From inception our vision has been to change the face of the promotions and incentives space,” said Atkins in a statement. “In today’s competitive landscape, manufacturers need to move faster than their competitors, and we allow them to engage and systematically improve their channel promotions. It is not just about incentives; it is about engagement – the tools and education they need to provide their channel with has never been more important than right now.”

According to a lengthy story on 360 Incentives’ site, Atkins experienced a family tragedy which taught him that he wanted to build his business close to home to be closer to his family, because “happiness heals.” After successfully exiting a previous company, he decided to start a new company less than a kilometer from his house, guided by the principles of an “unbelievable” experience for clients and employees, and to make a difference in the world.

He began interviewing marketing and retail professionals, writing code, and building his team with members from his local community, some known as “happiness builders.” In the past two years, 360 Incentives has grown by over 450% and has 67 employees. It also added 75 global brands, including GE, Whirlpool, Samsung, LG, Electrolux, Frigidaire, Bosch, and Unilock, to its list of clients.

Another piece of Atkins’ shared wisdom is “raising funds is like getting married.” Now, the time is ripe, and 360 Incentives is hitched to OMERS Ventures, the venture arm of a large Canadian pension fund, along with Klass Capital and Round 13 Capital. With this investment, 360 Incentives will “accelerate its envelopment of leading edge channel engagement and incentives management technologies” and continue to hold events involving caffeine, Oreos, and sombreros. Read the press release.