Grammy-winning artist and entrepreneur Diplo invests in Seattle startup Copper – GeekWire
Seattle’s Copper has secured new high-profile funding as it looks to accelerate the growth of its consumer rewards platform, announcing Tuesday that Grammy-winning singer, DJ and entrepreneur Diplo has invested in the company.
The financial terms of the investment were not disclosed.
“I always look for common sense in people,” Diplo said in a statement. “Copper is one of those – you’re already on your phone, you’re already spending money, and this gives something back. That’s true.”
Copper says more than 4 million members use its platform to earn money through mobile games, cashback offers and shopping.
Copper CEO Eddie Behringer, who founded Snap! Raise, said the company is creating an alternative to consumer apps that monetize users’ attention.
“Most consumer apps are designed to take more from the user — more time, more money, more attention,” Behringer said in a LinkedIn post. “At Copper, we create the opposite.”
Founded in 2019, Copper was originally launched as a banking app for teenagers. GeekWire closed its startup in 2022 after it raised $29 million in funding to expand into investment products, at a time when the company had nearly a million users.
The startup has since evolved into a comprehensive consumer rewards platform. Copper has raised $42 million to date and recently ranked No. 2 among the fastest-growing companies in the Pacific Northwest on Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500 rankings, based on three-year revenue growth.
Diplo, whose real name is Thomas Wesley Pentz, has built a business portfolio beyond music, investing in technology and consumer startups while launching ventures like Diplo’s Run Club, a series of 5K races paired with music festivals.
A three-time Grammy winner, he has collaborated with artists such as Labrinth and Sia as part of the music group LSD and worked with singer Mark Ronson on Silk City. He is also the founder of the record label Mad Decent.
In 2024, Copper discontinued its banking services following the collapse of fintech infrastructure provider Synapse, which forced the startup out of its original business. “In addition to our prior planning, this event has forced us to close the bank accounts sooner than expected,” Behringer wrote at the time.
The company has also rebuilt its rewards platform, which it says now serves millions of users.
Behringer said the company’s goal has always been to help families improve their financial health.
“As household costs rise, we saw an even greater opportunity to help the person making everyday spending decisions get more out of the things they already do—from grocery shopping to grocery shopping to spending time on their phone,” Behringer told GeekWire via email. “Diplo’s investment is the perfect confirmation of how far that evolution has come.”
