| Ribbon | |
| Type: | Private |
| Foundation: | 2011 |
| Founder: | Hany Rashwan[1] [2] [3] |
| Location: | San Francisco, California |
| Industry: | Technology |
Ribbon was a San Francisco payments startup that lets users sell online using a shortened URL that can be shared across email, social media and a seller's own website.[4] The service focuses on bring integrated checkouts directly to platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter letting buyers purchase without leaving those services.
The company graduated from a startup accelerator called AngelPad as "Kout" in October 2011[5] and subsequently raised $1.6 million from Tim Draper through Draper Associates, Naguib Sawiris, Emil Michael, Gokul Rajaram, and others bringing its total raised amount to $1.75 million.[6]
On April 10, 2013, the company announced support for "in-stream" payments on Twitter, allowing buyers to purchase items without leaving the Twitter.com stream. Twitter shut down Ribbon's API access after approximately an hour and a half, according to Head of Business Development, Daniel Brusilovsky.[7] Ribbon requested permission to show video cards, but after receiving permission then switched the url to show the hacked checkout system.[8] The company wrote a statement announcing they will revert to showcasing only a summary of their product without the ability to do in-stream payments.[9] As of April 11, 2013 Ribbon links inside Twitter no longer work in-stream and buyers are redirected to purchase on the Ribbon website.