Expense Management Startup Ramp Considered for Government Charge Card Pilot Program
Ramp, an expense management startup, has confirmed that it is being considered for a charge card pilot program by the U.S. government’s General Services Administration. The government’s internal expense card program, known as SmartPay, is a massive $700 billion program. It is reported that the contract for the pilot program that Ramp is being considered for could be worth up to $25 million, according to a report by Pro Publica.
According to Pro Publica, Ramp has been actively lobbying for the government’s attention since January, even before President Trump took office. In January, Ramp’s co-founder and CEO Eric Glyman, along with Ramp VC investor Kyle Harrison, published a blog post titled “The Efficiency Formula,” outlining ways to eliminate inefficient spending in government. This post seemed to align with Elon Musk’s government efficiency agenda, which was later formalized as the Department of Government Efficiency. Ramp has ties to Musk’s and Trump’s world through investors such as Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, Keith Rabois of Khosla Ventures, and Joshua Kushner’s Thrive Capital.
Lindsay McKinley, head of communications at Ramp, stated that the company is competing in a standard procurement process for the SmartPay pilot program based on the strength of its solution. She emphasized that Ramp’s technology has saved billions of dollars in wasted spend across the economy and aims to bring those results to the American taxpayer.
Despite Ramp’s claims of being a money-saving option for corporations, McKinley acknowledged that the startup offers similar spend management features as other corporate expense management platforms. This includes setting parameters to identify expenses that do not comply with policies, which the federal government has in place for its employees.
McKinley mentioned that Ramp became aware of the government’s significant credit card usage through a public post shared by the Department of Government Efficiency. A former customer of Ramp then introduced the startup to GSA, leading to Ramp’s participation in the standard RFI process for the SmartPay pilot program.
As of now, Ramp has demonstrated its product to GSA but has no indication of whether it will be selected for the program. In March, Ramp’s valuation doubled to $13 billion after a $150 million secondary share sale. Since its inception in 2019, the startup has raised over $1 billion in equity financing and $700 million in committed debt funding.
