Propel Inc.

What Propel Inc. does

Propel Inc. is a privately held, for-profit technology company founded in 2015 and headquartered in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. The company develops and operates the Propel mobile application, a free consumer product targeting the more than 40 million Americans who receive benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and use Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards. The app's core capability is real-time EBT balance and transaction retrieval, achieved through direct integrations with state EBT portals across 49 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Guam. Iowa is the only U.S. jurisdiction where balance checking is not yet supported.

The Propel app bundles five interconnected modules into a single interface: EBT balance checking with up to two years of transaction history, deposit predictions that forecast next SNAP payments, security features including card locking and out-of-state or online transaction blocking, exclusive savings offers on groceries, phone plans, utilities, and insurance, and policy-update notifications. The technology layer connects to state EBT portals with user credentials and uses bank-level encryption while explicitly not storing PINs, full card numbers, or Social Security Numbers on Propel servers. The app is distributed via the Apple App Store, Google Play, and a web interface, with content marketing and SEO-driven state-specific SNAP guides serving as the primary acquisition channels alongside food-bank and state-agency referral partnerships.

Propel's revenue model is consumer-facing advertising, with the company selectively promoting offers that are free or discounted exclusively for EBT cardholders. The company is also expanding into B2B offerings, including "Propel for Plans" targeting healthcare plans and "Propel for States" targeting state agencies. The company is venture-backed (specific investors undisclosed), operates with 101-250 employees, and reports more than 5 million users and over 1 million 5-star ratings. Revenue, funding totals, and investor identities are not publicly disclosed.

Name

Propel Inc.

Legal name

Propel Inc.

Website

https://propel.app

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Propel Inc. is a private technology company that builds the Propel mobile app, a free platform enabling 5+ million SNAP/EBT beneficiaries in the U.S. to check balances, view transaction history, protect benefits from theft, and access exclusive discounts, monetized through advertising and emerging B2B contracts.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Brooklyn Park

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Advertising Revenue: Propel generates revenue through advertising. The company is selective about what it promotes, with most offers being free or discounted services exclusively available to EBT cardholders, such as free phones, discounted internet, and grocery savings at major retailers. This is a consumer-facing advertising model where brands pay to reach the SNAP beneficiary audience.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Propel Inc. develops a free mobile and web application that connects directly to state EBT portals so SNAP/EBT beneficiaries can instantly check their benefit balance and view transaction history. The app adds card-security features (remote locking, out-of-state and online transaction blocking, and fraud monitoring), deposit-date predictions, policy-change alerts, and a curated marketplace of discounts on groceries, phone plans, utilities, and other essentials exclusive to EBT cardholders.

Product overview

Propel Inc. offers a single, unified mobile application—the Propel App—designed to make government benefits easier to manage. The core product combines five interconnected modules: EBT Balance Checking (for instant balance and transaction history viewing via state portal connections), Propel Security Features (card locking, out-of-state/online transaction blocking, and fraud monitoring), Exclusive Savings & Offers (discounted groceries, phone plans, and utilities exclusive to EBT users), Benefits Updates (policy change alerts and deposit notifications), and Deposit Predictions (forecasting when next payments will arrive). The app is free to end users and monetized through advertising, with all features accessible within one unified interface rather than as separate products.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Propel App

Quantifiable outcome

• 5+ million users relying on the app for EBT balance checking
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Feeding America (Local Food Banks)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPropel partners with Feeding America's network of local food banks to provide SNAP application assistance referrals. The company recommends that users contact their local food bank for help with SNAP applications, creating a referral pathway between the app and food bank services.
• State EBT Agencies (All 50 States)coreTechnology or IntegrationPropel connects to state EBT portals with user permission to retrieve balance and transaction data. This integration allows users to view their EBT information through the Propel app instead of calling state hotlines or using state websites.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Conduent: Conduent is a major government services contractor that processes EBT transactions for numerous state agencies and has its own cardholder-facing tools. As a broad incumbent with public-sector contracts at scale, it competes with Propel indirectly via state-level relationships and could expand consumer-facing features.

Direct peers

• GetCalFresh: GetCalFresh is a digital SNAP application assistance service co-founded by Dave Guarino (Propel's former Director of Emerging Technology). It directly overlaps with Propel's SNAP-focused mission and shares DNA, but focuses on the application/onramp stage while Propel focuses on the post-enrollment balance and benefits management stage.
• Possible Finance: Possible Finance provides small-dollar credit-building loans to thin-file and underbanked borrowers, with a stated mission of serving the same low-income demographic as Propel. Both companies pursue mission-driven financial inclusion for SNAP-adjacent populations, though Possible is focused on credit rather than benefits management.
• Dave Inc. Dave is a consumer fintech app providing banking, cash advances, and budgeting tools targeted at lower-income and hourly workers — overlapping significantly with Propel's user demographic. While Dave offers transactional financial services and Propel offers benefits management, both compete for daily engagement and trust from the same underbanked audience.
• Brigit: Brigit is a financial wellness app offering cash advances, budgeting, and credit-building tools for working- and middle-class Americans. It serves a partially overlapping lower-income demographic and competes for the same daily-finances engagement slot on user phones as Propel.
• Current: Current is a mobile banking platform purpose-built for underserved Americans, offering early direct deposit, point rewards, and no-fee banking. It targets the same demographic as Propel and competes for wallet share among low-income users, though through transactional banking rather than benefits management.
• ebtEDGE (FIS): ebtEDGE is the EBT cardholder mobile app provided by Fidelity National Information Services (FIS), one of the largest EBT processors in the US. It offers balance checking, transaction history, and security features for SNAP recipients — directly overlapping Propel's core balance-checking functionality and serving the same end users.
• Albert: Albert is a financial wellness app offering banking, automated savings, investing, and cash advances aimed at everyday Americans, including lower-income users. It overlaps with Propel in serving budget-conscious consumers seeking better financial tools, though via a more transactional banking product.
• Findhelp (formerly Aunt Bertha): Findhelp operates a social care network connecting people to public and private benefit programs including SNAP, Medicaid, and utility assistance. It overlaps with Propel's mission of helping low-income Americans access benefits and competes for the same end-user relationship around benefits navigation and enrollment.

Emerging players

• Greenlight: Greenlight is a family finance platform offering debit cards, investing, and educational content for kids and teens. While focused on a younger demographic than Propel, it is comparable as a mission-driven consumer fintech targeting financial inclusion and education for lower- and middle-income families.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/ThePropelApp
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/propel-inc
• Instagraminstagram.com/thepropel.app
• TikToktiktok.com/@thepropelapp

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Propel Inc.