Extole
Extole is a San Francisco-based enterprise SaaS company that provides an API-first offer management platform for referral, loyalty, and incentive programs, serving large brands in retail, banking, fintech, telecom, and travel.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2007
- HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Extole does
Extole is a venture-backed enterprise software company that operates an offer management platform for referral, loyalty, and incentive programs, headquartered at 548 Market St in San Francisco. The company was founded in 2007 and serves large consumer brands and financial institutions across retail, banking, fintech, telecom, travel and hospitality, and franchise verticals; named customers include Athleta, Tatcha, Bose, Ollie, RevZilla, GO2bank, DailyPay, Tally, Princess Cruises, CLEAR, ESET, and multiple credit unions including 3Rivers and SkyOne. Its core platform comprises three REST APIs (Server-to-Extole, Consumer-to-Extole, and Management) with OpenAPI specifications, SDKs for JavaScript, iOS, Android, and React Native, a CLI, and a Flow Builder for no-code program design. The 2025 product releases added Reward Bank (collectible rewards), the Go Extole mobile app for field team referrals, and a scheduled 2026-06 launch of the Extole MCP Server, which connects Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, and other AI agents to the platform via Model Context Protocol with scoped user permissions and audit trails. Extole is ISO/IEC 27001 and SOC 2 Type 2 certified and GDPR/CCPA/EU-US DPF compliant, supporting regulated-industry sales.
Extole generates revenue primarily through annual enterprise SaaS subscriptions with quote-based pricing tied to program count, reward volume, API usage, and feature scope, supplemented by managed reward fulfillment services in which clients pre-fund gift cards, prepaid cards, and discounts. Distribution is omnichannel: direct enterprise field sales with consultative selling, technology partnerships with Shopify Plus, Salesforce, Braze, Attentive, Amplitude, and Q2, a reseller/agency partner program, developer self-service through APIs and SDKs, and native app store listings. The company is backed by Norwest Venture Partners, Redpoint, Scale Venture Partners, Shasta Ventures, Trident Capital, and SaaS Capital, with approximately $28.7M of cumulative funding disclosed and 51-100 employees.
Extole firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Extole
- Legal name
- Extole, Inc.
- Website
- https://extole.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2007
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Extole is a San Francisco-based enterprise SaaS company that provides an API-first offer management platform for referral, loyalty, and incentive programs, serving large brands in retail, banking, fintech, telecom, and travel.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Extole industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Customer engagement and referral marketing software
- NAICS
- Custom Computer Programming Services (541511)
- SIC
- Services-Advertising (7310), Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Brand Activations & Experiential Campaign Design (MPAAAGAA)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Experiential Measurement & ROI Analytics (MPAAAGAL), Activation/Experiential Creative Agencies (MPAAAAAO)
Keywords
Where Extole is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Francisco
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Extole business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Enterprise Platform Subscription: SaaS platform subscription model with enterprise pricing based on program scope, usage volume, and feature requirements. Clients subscribe to access the Extole platform with fees outlined in Service Orders, typically billed annually or on custom terms.
- Reward Fulfillment Services: Platform facilitates reward fulfillment (gift cards, prepaid cards, discounts) with clients pre-funding rewards in advance. Extole handles the operational fulfillment while clients cover reward costs.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Enterprise tier with full platform access |
| Hybrid | Multi-year contract | Platform plus professional services |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels6 records
Marketing channels9 records
Extole product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Extole provides an enterprise-grade offer management platform that enables brands to build, launch, manage, and analyze referral, loyalty, influencer, and incentive-based programs across web, mobile, email, SMS, in-store, and QR-code channels. The platform combines a visual no-code Flow Builder, a full REST API with SDKs, a Reward Bank for collectible rewards, AI-ready MCP integration, fraud prevention, and automated reward fulfillment (including gift cards, prepaid cards, and coupons) to drive customer acquisition, conversion, and retention at enterprise scale.
Product overview
Extole is an enterprise offer management platform that provides a unified platform-plus-modules architecture for building and managing referral, loyalty, and incentive-based programs. The core platform (Extole Enterprise Platform) provides data activation, Flow Builder for visual journey design, Full API with OpenAPI specs, Reward Bank for collectible rewards, Go Extole Mobile App for field teams, and Extole MCP Server for AI integration. Acquisition programs include Refer-a-Friend, Influencer & Ambassador Programs, Employee Ambassadors, Drop-a-Hint, and Welcome Offer. Retention programs include Friends and Family, Loyalty Programs, Nominate-a-Friend, and Sweepstakes. Industry-specific solutions cover Banks & Credit Unions, Consumer FinTech, Telecom, Retail, Travel & Hospitality, and Franchisors, with native integrations for Shopify, Candescent, and BHN Rewards. Developer Solutions provide APIs and SDKs for custom implementations.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Extole Enterprise Platform
- Flow Builder
- Full API
- Reward Bank
- Go Extole Mobile App
- Extole MCP Server
- Refer-a-Friend
- Influencer & Ambassador Programs
- Employee Ambassadors
- Drop-a-Hint
- Welcome Offer
- Friends and Family
- Loyalty Programs
- Nominate-a-Friend
- Sweepstakes
- Developer Solutions
- Shopify Solutions
- Candescent Integration
- BHN Rewards Integration
Quantifiable outcome
- 298% ROI boost for enterprise customers (Forrester study)
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Extole
Customer profileNamed customers17 records
Segments7 records
Ideal customer profiles6 records
Extole technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration9 records
AI capability7 records
Feature8 records
Extole partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- Shopify PluscoreNative Shopify Plus app integration enabling drag-and-drop CTAs, Checkout Extensions, automatic conversion tracking, and discount code generation. Brands can launch referral programs directly from Shopify Admin with no code required.
- SalesforcecoreIntegration with Salesforce CRM enabling referral program data to flow into customer records and marketing automation workflows.
- BrazecoreIntegration with Braze customer engagement platform for coordinating referral and loyalty programs with broader customer communication strategies.
- AttentivecoreIntegration with Attentive SMS marketing platform for coordinating referral program communications via text message.
- AmplitudecoreIntegration with Amplitude analytics platform for tracking referral program performance and correlating with product usage data.
- Q2coreIntegration with Q2 digital banking platform for financial institutions to embed referral experiences within online and mobile banking.
- BHN RewardscorePartnership with BHN (Blackhawk Network) for automated reward fulfillment. Combines Extole's referral platform with BHN's extensive reward catalog including gift cards, prepaid cards, and merchant rewards.
- CandescentcoreIntegration with Candescent digital banking platform for credit unions and banks. SSO-based integration embeds referral experience within authenticated digital banking sessions. Launch timeline approximately 4 weeks.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Extole competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Yotpo: Direct competitor offering referral marketing alongside reviews, loyalty, and SMS marketing for ecommerce brands. Competes head-to-head in the Shopify Plus and enterprise retail segments where Extole operates.
- Friendbuy: Direct peer in referral marketing for DTC and enterprise brands; offers a similar advocate/influencer + reward platform with API-first architecture. Competes for the same Shopify Plus and mid-market ecommerce buyer.
- ReferralCandy: Direct peer focused on referral marketing for ecommerce merchants, with a strong Shopify App Store presence. Targets the SMB-to-mid-market segment that overlaps with Extole's Shopify Plus positioning.
- Smile.io: Direct peer offering loyalty programs for Shopify and BigCommerce merchants with referral functionality. Competes in the same Shopify App Store ecosystem with overlapping customer base.
- LoyaltyLion: Direct peer providing loyalty and referral programs purpose-built for Shopify merchants. Competes for the same mid-market ecommerce customer segment with overlapping referral/loyalty tooling.
- Annex Cloud (Zinrelo): Direct peer providing enterprise loyalty, referral, and customer engagement solutions across retail, B2B, and omnichannel. Competes in the same enterprise tier with similar verticals focus.
Emerging players
- Birdeye: Multi-product experience platform expanding into customer engagement, messaging, and increasingly loyalty/referral-adjacent features. Represents a potential expansion-stage competitor for multi-location and franchise customers.
- Influitive: Adjacent advocate-marketing platform focused on B2B customer advocacy, references, and community — partial overlap with Extole's ambassador/influencer programs and enterprise customer base.
Broad incumbents
- Klaviyo: Broader incumbent in ecommerce marketing automation (email, SMS, reviews) increasingly expanding into loyalty. Competes for the same CMO budget and overlaps with Extole's Shopify ecosystem customer base.
- Salesforce Marketing Cloud: Broader incumbent CRM/marketing cloud that is both a partner and potential competitor to Extole. Offers loyalty/loyalty-management capabilities inside a much larger enterprise platform, creating bundling and channel-conflict risk.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Extole social profiles
Digital presenceExtole compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance4 records
Extole financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Extole leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles5 records
Extole funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds7 records
Investors7 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Extole M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Extole
What does Extole do?
Extole provides an enterprise-grade offer management platform that enables brands to build, launch, manage, and analyze referral, loyalty, influencer, and incentive-based programs across web, mobile, email, SMS, in-store, and QR-code channels. The platform combines a visual no-code Flow Builder, a full REST API with SDKs, a Reward Bank for collectible rewards, AI-ready MCP integration, fraud prevention, and automated reward fulfillment (including gift cards, prepaid cards, and coupons) to drive customer acquisition, conversion, and retention at enterprise scale.
Is Extole a public or private company?
Extole is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Extole founded?
Extole was founded in 2007. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Extole based?
Extole is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.
How does Extole make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Enterprise Platform Subscription is the primary driver. The others are reward Fulfillment Services.
Who are Extole's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Yotpo, Friendbuy, ReferralCandy, Smile.io, LoyaltyLion and Annex Cloud (Zinrelo). Emerging players are Birdeye and Influitive. Broad incumbents are Klaviyo and Salesforce Marketing Cloud.
Does Extole have an API?
Yes. Extole offers three REST APIs: Server-to-Extole API (POST /v6/events, POST /v6/async-events for event submission), Consumer-to-Extole API (POST /v5/token, POST /v6/zones), and Management API (campaigns, audiences, rewards, reporting). Every endpoint ships with OpenAPI definitions. SDKs available for JavaScript, iOS, Android, and React Native. Uses scoped bearer token authentication. Developer documentation is at docs.extole.com/reference.
What industry is Extole in?
Extole's product category is Customer engagement and referral marketing software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAAAGAA, Brand Activations & Experiential Campaign Design, with a secondary code of MPAAAGAL, Experiential Measurement & ROI Analytics. Its NAICS code is 541511 and its SIC code is 7310.