edo(SM), the leader in personalized card-linked offers, announced a $15 million Series C financing agreement led by VantagePoint Capital Partners with participation from Baird Venture Partners and its other existing investors. edo will use the proceeds to accelerate adoption of its platform for delivering instantly redeemable offers, tailored to customers' shopping habits, through credit cards, debit cards and mobile devices. In addition, edo will step up growth efforts across the local small and medium business (SMB) market to scale the reach of the edo offer and content network through partnerships with merchant acquirers, mobile payment providers and media publishers. This Series C round brings the company's total financing to date to $54.3 million.

"Payments and advertising are colliding; to stay competitive, banks must deliver value to cardholders that goes beyond the traditional realm of services, while advertisers are searching for solutions to drive customer acquisition, loyalty and return on marketing investment," said Ed Braswell, CEO, edo. "This latest investment will help edo expand our market leadership position and scale our advertising content, merchant partnerships and growth within the highly competitive local business market."

"According to Aite Group, an estimated 460 million U.S. cardholders will subscribe to card-linked, merchant-funded incentives by 2015," said Tom Bevilacqua, managing director and group co-leader, VantagePoint Capital Partners. "edo has disrupted the space by making the offer experience easy and rewarding for consumers and advertisers. With its established approach to card-linked offers for national advertisers, edo is well positioned to transform the status quo for small businesses and make hyperlocal marketing simple, measurable and profitable."

The Local SMB Solution
In this highly competitive retail landscape, now more than ever local merchants need profitable and effective ways to attract and retain customers. From Daily Deals to direct mail to mobile loyalty platforms, local businesses are searching for ways to bring the right customers in the door and get them coming back. The edo card-linked offer platform gives local SMBs a targeted, pay-for-performance way to drive traffic and sales that is simple for both the merchant and the consumer.

About VantagePoint Capital Partners
VantagePoint Capital Partners is a global leader in financing and supporting transformative companies focused on energy innovation, Internet and digital media. With a best-in-class investment team of business and scientific experts, a broad network of corporate Strategic Partners, accomplished Senior Advisors, and more than $4 billion in committed capital, the Firm has the resources and talent to build important, industry-leading companies. Headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices in Beijing, VantagePoint has active investments in over 70 companies, including Identified, edo, Vook, Chacha, Solazyme, BrightSource Energy, Liquid Robotics, Scribd and WageWorks. For more information, visit http://www.vpcp.com.

About Baird Venture Partners
Baird Venture Partners, the U.S.-based venture capital fund of Baird Private Equity, makes venture capital investments in early and expansion stage business services and life sciences companies. Baird Venture Partners leverages its in-depth sector knowledge, experienced investment team and network of relationships to serve as a value-added partner for its portfolio companies. Baird Private Equity is the global private equity group of Robert W. Baird & Co. (Baird). For more information, please visit http://www.bairdventurepartners.com.

About edo
edo is transforming shopping and saving by delivering the simplest solution to personalized offers that are automatically available on consumers' credit cards, debit cards and mobile devices. Through its card-linked offer platform, edo brings unique insight and clarity into consumer spending behavior -- helping marketers and merchants increase loyalty and target new customers with instantly redeemable discounts tailored to their customers' shopping habits. The company is co-headquartered in Nashville, Tenn. and Chicago. For more information, visit http://www.edointeractive.com.