← State of Embedded Finance 2026

PerkUp

Can a global employee gifting and swag platform become the default financial rewards layer that HR teams embed into their existing people operations stack?

Founded2021
HQUnited States
IndustryVertical SaaS / HR & Employee Rewards
The story

PerkUp started as an employee perks and gift card issuance platform, enabling HR teams to fund pre-loaded cards for wellness, home office, and other lifestyle benefits. The product expanded into a full global employee gifting and swag platform — now covering swag kits, on-demand and bulk branded merchandise, warehousing, and gift card catalogs of 5,000+ options across 100+ countries. The embedded finance angle centers on the PerkUp Visa Card (prepaid card issuance) and global payouts via Wise for customs reimbursements, with HRIS integrations (via Finch) as the connective tissue between HR systems and rewards distribution.

Last 12 months
Product timeline
2021
PerkUp launched as an employee engagement platform allowing companies to issue pre-loaded gift cards for perks such as childcare, wellness, fitness, home office, and education.· pivot
2023
Expanded platform to include global swag ordering, on-demand swag, swag warehousing, and delivery to 80+ countries.· pivot
2024
Launched PerkUp Visa Card as a gifting and rewards vehicle for employees globally.· card
The stack
FX & payouts
Wise
Accounting gap: significant