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Runa

Disrupting the entire B2C payments network

101-200 employees
  • Fintech
  • B2B
10 East Road, London, N1 6AD, GB

Company mission

To help companies pay the people they serve in any form of digital value.

Top investors

40% female employees

64% employee growth in 12 months

Otta's take

Xav Kearney headshot

Xav Kearney

CTO of Otta

The non-cash rewards industry is worth $300 billion, yet hasn't seen much innovation. Incumbents focus on physical gift cards, and a lot of the work is done on spreadsheets and outdated systems.

Runa (rebranded from WeGift) has built a platform that offers API access for businesses to automate sending digital rewards.

There are clear similarities to Stripe here: they revolutionised payments to businesses and are now worth $20 billion. Runa is providing quick integrations for developers and simple design, just like Stripe, but do it such that businesses can 'pay' their customers.

Runa had a strong year in 2023, diversifying its customer base and bringing to the market more than 1500 payout types. It is available in over 40 countries and 25 currencies, indicating a massive leap forward for the platform.

Benefits

  • Generous maternity and paternity packages to make sure you get to spend time with your new bundle of joy
  • Staff perks with Runa brands - discounts of up to 12% on coffee, weekly groceries, holidays, the list is endless
  • A minimum of 25 days holiday + public holidays. We also offer 5 wellbeing days over the year.

Company values

  • Build Trust
  • Dive Deep
  • Adapt & Overcome
  • Master Your Craft

Funding (last 2 of 6 rounds)

Nov 2022

$32.6m

SERIES B

Mar 2021

$12m

EARLY VC

$59.4m

Total funding

This company has top investors

Founders

Previously founded a property investment company. Also worked for Zapper (payments and loyalty company)

People progressing

Progressed from Principal Software Engineer to Staff Software Engineer in less than a year!

Joined Runa as Head of Commercial Partnerships and was promoted to Sales Director, and most recently to Director of Sales and Business Development

Diversity & Inclusion at Runa

Oliver Lochhead headshot

Oliver Lochhead (Talent Manager )

  • At Runa, we are passionate about building a meritocratic environment where everyone has an opportunity to be successful regardless of who they are.
  • We're excited to be a TTC Signatory, so we can continue to foster an inclusive and diverse workforce that is truly representative of all sections of society, where each employee feels respected and able to do their best work.

Endorsements

All

Challenging work (4)

Opportunities to learn (3)

Autonomy (3)

Inspiring mission (3)

Great work is recognised (2)

People of all backgrounds are welcomed (2)

Nice people (1)

Intelligent people (1)

My opinions are valued (1)

Supportive management (1)

Our product is revolutionising the entire payments network... Our platform will enable multiple forms of digital currency to flow between businesses to the people they serve, instantly, without the need for a bank account. It's a game changer.

People, HR, Recruitment

Innovative product

Feb 2022

We have shared values that enable us to win together! These align to building a great high performing team, collaborating to making the best decisions, being able to adapt and support one another and constantly improving. At each companywide meeting we recognise people within the business who have achieved great things and link those to the values they've demonstrated.

People, HR, Recruitment

Clear values

Feb 2022

We're doing something that hasn't been done before. The traditional financial infrastructure is built for consumers to pay for goods and services, but until now there was nothing that can effectively facilitate B2C pay-outs - we're fixing a problem that effects millions of people!

People, HR, Recruitment

Inspiring mission

Feb 2022

WeGift is running a range of new, complex projects and everyone is driven to make ambitious goals happen. It's busy year round with endless learning opportunities that can take years to get at other companies

Finance, Legal & Compliance

Challenging work

Nov 2021

I've worked in multiple countries and never been at a company as diverse and thoughtful as WeGift.

Finance, Legal & Compliance

Diversity is a priority

Nov 2021

Managers are all supportive of both personal and professional development. We have weekly 1:1s and constructive, direct feedback loops so one always knows how well you're doing.

Finance, Legal & Compliance

Supportive management

Nov 2021

The people at WeGift inspire you to bring your A-game. Talking through business challenges and ideas is a collaborative and open part of how we work that provides you with different ideas and perspectives to learn from.

People, HR, Recruitment

Intelligent people

Nov 2021

As soon as the pandemic hit WeGift prioritised people's wellbeing and gave everyone the option to work where they felt safe and productive, where ever in the world that may be. In the new year WeGift will continue to ensure flexibility remains at the heart of who we are.

People, HR, Recruitment

Flexible working

Nov 2021

You are empowered to work how you like to work to get the outcome you need. Our No Meeting Wednesdays allow you to focus on deep work without distractions which is great.

People, HR, Recruitment

Autonomy

Nov 2021

We get a problem then the team designs a solution using the best tools for the job. There's a real sense of ownership of your work as you are responsible for it.

Software Engineering

Autonomy

Nov 2021

Really great group of people who care about each other. I come into the office (post-COVID) because I want to see them and go for a drink after work.

Software Engineering

Nice people

Nov 2021

We're rapidly adopting new technologies (cloud native at the moment) which is exactly where I want to be. Time can be set aside for getting up to speed with these. Recently launched a serverless API having done next to no Lambda/AWS before.

Software Engineering

Opportunities to learn

Nov 2021

We have over 20 different nationalities in a team and leadership places an emphasis on building an inclusive culture (i.e. all employees have attended an inclusive behaviours training). I have benefitted so much professionally and personally from my colleagues who have taught me about different perspectives, cultures and ways of thinking.

People, HR, Recruitment

People of all backgrounds are welcomed

Nov 2021

I have been able to lean into any projects that interests me within the People function and have been supported in my learning and development through a structured career progression framework and personal development plan. We also have an annual L&D budget where I have been able to receive external, formal training to aid me in my role.

People, HR, Recruitment

Opportunities to learn

Nov 2021

This is the first Company I have worked in where I have been truly excited about the scope and scale of the mission. We are truly changing the way money is spent and sent which is something that impacts everyone. The speed at which we have shipped features and developed our product in the last 4 years makes me excited for the years ahead!

People, HR, Recruitment

Inspiring mission

Nov 2021

People within teams recognise each other and provide feedback - for job well done, as well as what you could have done better. Moreover great work is recognised at company level quarterly and rewarded by using our own platform.

Software Engineering

Great work is recognised

Nov 2021

Questions, concerns etc are not only welcome, but very much encouraged.

Software Engineering

My opinions are valued

Nov 2021

Quick and easy way to transfer a value makes a lot of sense.

Software Engineering

Inspiring mission

Nov 2021

With the constant progress the company is making, there are a diverse set of interesting & challenging technical tasks to be solved.

Software Engineering

Challenging work

Nov 2021

The company ensures we have great support for physical & mental health especially during busy periods.

Software Engineering

Focus on employee wellbeing

Nov 2021

With the diverse set of technical challenges we always look to solve them with the best tool for the job. We don't shy away from using new technology, which is great because it gives us constant opportunities to try out new tools.

Software Engineering

Opportunities to learn

Nov 2021

We're not just doing e gift cards, there's a much bigger future and we've just started building some of the most difficult parts of it. I don't think I can say exactly what it is but it's technically challenge and will completely change what we can offer our customers.

Software Engineering

Challenging work

Nov 2021

We're judged around metrics and performance rather than a todo list of dilverables.

Software Engineering

Autonomy

Nov 2021

Eng has gone 2.5x. Lots new people in the team who I'm proud to be working with.

Software Engineering

Growing fast

Nov 2021

The complete transparency across the business enables me to understand how my work across People and Talent directly impacts the growth of the business and product offering!

People, HR, Recruitment

Challenging work

Nov 2021

The onboarding process at WeGift is one that enables all employees to get a flavour of the culture and values by speaking to different teams, all with differing backgrounds and experiences. We believe that by fostering a culture which will empower our team to be their authentic selves at work; enabling innovation and decisions that optimally serve our clients and users.

People, HR, Recruitment

People of all backgrounds are welcomed

Nov 2021

At WeGift we celebrate great work no matter how small the feat may be! Everyone deserves to feel recognised for the work that they do, and that's a super important part of our culture.

People, HR, Recruitment

Great work is recognised

Nov 2021