Forage

Cover Block

Attribute	Details
Name	Forage
Tagline	Payments infrastructure enabling merchants to accept government benefits like EBT SNAP online and in-store.
Headquarters	San Francisco, CA, USA
Founded	2019
Stage	Series A
Business Model	API / Developer Platform
Industry	Fintech
Technology	Software (Non-AI)
Geography	North America
Growth Profile	Venture Scale
Founding Team	Co-Founders (3+)
Funding Label	Series A (total disclosed ~$22,000,000)

Links

• Website: https://www.joinforage.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/forage-payments

Executive Summary

Forage is a payments infrastructure company that enables merchants to accept government benefits, primarily EBT SNAP, online and in-store, addressing a critical gap in digital commerce for a population of over 42 million Americans [LinkedIn]. The company's investor appeal rests on a rare combination of a mission-driven market with tangible scale and a defensible position as one of only three USDA-approved third-party payment processors for online SNAP, alongside legacy giants Fiserv and Worldpay [Digital Transactions].

Founded in 2019, the company was built by a team with direct experience in scaling payments at major platforms. CEO Ofek Lavian previously led payments initiatives at Instacart, Uber, and DoorDash [TechCrunch]. Their core product is a unified API and PCI Level 1 compliant payment gateway that handles the end-to-end processing of EBT transactions, including the USDA approval process, PIN-entry flows, and integrations with state processors [Y Combinator].

Forage operates on an API/developer platform business model, having raised a $22 million Series A in 2022 led by Nyca Partners, with participation from PayPal and Y Combinator [Forbes, August 2022].

Data Accuracy: GREEN -- Core facts confirmed by Forbes, TechCrunch, and company materials.

Taxonomy Snapshot

Axis	Value
Stage	Series A
Business Model	API / Developer Platform
Industry / Vertical	Fintech
Technology Type	Software (Non-AI)
Geography	North America
Growth Profile	Venture Scale
Founding Team	Co-Founders (3+)
Funding	Series A (total disclosed ~$22,000,000)

How the Company Got Here

Forage was founded in 2019 by Ofek Lavian, Amit Golan, and Jack Cho to build payments infrastructure for government benefits [Y Combinator]. The company emerged from Y Combinator's accelerator program [Y Combinator]. Its founding thesis centered on simplifying the complex regulatory and technical process required for merchants to accept Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) payments, particularly for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), online [Y Combinator].

The company is headquartered in San Francisco, California [LinkedIn]. Its first major public milestone was a $22 million Series A funding round in 2022, led by Nyca Partners with participation from PayPal, Y Combinator, and others [Forbes, Aug 2022]. A significant subsequent milestone was securing approval from the U.S. Department of Agriculture as a third-party payment processor for the SNAP program [Digital Transactions].

Data Accuracy: GREEN -- Confirmed by Y Combinator, Forbes, and LinkedIn.

Product and Technology

The company's product is a payments gateway built specifically for a single, highly regulated payment method. Forage provides a unified API that allows merchants to accept EBT SNAP and EBT Cash payments online and in-store [Y Combinator]. The core technical challenge it solves is compliance; the product handles the specific PIN-entry flows, integrations with state processors, and the underlying gateway logic required to meet USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) rules for online SNAP transactions [Y Combinator]. This positions Forage as a dedicated, PCI Level 1 compliant payment processor for government benefits [joinforage.com].

Functionally, the API enables several merchant-friendly features. It supports mixed baskets, allowing a cart to contain both EBT-eligible and ineligible items, and in some deployments, it enables split-tender transactions [PRNewswire]. The infrastructure is designed to integrate with existing e-commerce stacks and payment gateways.

Data Accuracy: GREEN -- Core product claims are consistently detailed across the company website, Y Combinator profile, and press releases.

Where the Demand Sits

Forage's bet rests on a simple premise: the digitization of government benefit payments is a multi-decade infrastructure upgrade, and the complexity of that transition creates a durable wedge for a specialist.

Forage cites an estimated 42 million Americans receiving government assistance, primarily through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) [LinkedIn]. The USDA reported that 42.2 million people participated in SNAP in an average month of fiscal year 2023 [USDA, November 2023]. The annual SNAP benefit expenditure for that year was approximately $113 billion [USDA].

Demand drivers are structural and regulatory. The 2018 Farm Bill authorized online SNAP purchasing, and the USDA's subsequent rollout has been a primary catalyst. This created a new compliance burden for merchants, who must secure USDA/FNS approval and integrate with legacy state EBT systems. Forage positions itself as solving this specific pain point.

Regulatory forces are the dominant macro risk and moat-builder. Achieving status as one of only three USDA-approved online EBT third-party payment processors, alongside Fiserv and FIS's Worldpay, required navigating a lengthy and rigorous compliance process [Digital Transactions].

Metric	Value
SNAP Participants FY2023	42.2 million
SNAP Benefits FY2023	113 $B

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Core SNAP figures are confirmed by USDA publications. Market opportunity claims are company-sourced and lack independent third-party sizing reports.

Competitive Landscape

Forage operates in a narrow but heavily regulated segment of payments infrastructure. The company is positioned as a modern, API-first specialist for government benefit payments, challenging legacy processors on developer experience while leveraging its USDA approval as a critical moat.

Company	Positioning	Stage / Funding
Forage	API-first specialist for EBT SNAP/Cash online & in-store	Series A (~$22M)
Fiserv	Global payments & financial services incumbent	Public (FISV)
Worldpay (FIS)	Global merchant acquirer & payment processor	Public (FIS)

The competitive map splits into three distinct layers. At the regulatory gatekeeper level, Forage competes directly with Fiserv and Worldpay, as these three are the only entities approved by the USDA as third-party payment processors for online SNAP [Digital Transactions, Retrieved 2026].

Forage's defensible edge today rests on two pillars: regulatory status and product focus. Its USDA approval is non-trivial to replicate and provides a durable, time-based advantage. The company's second edge is its singular focus on the developer experience for a notoriously complex payment type.

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Competitor identification and regulatory status are confirmed. Detailed funding and differentiation for incumbents are based on public company profiles.

Opportunity

The upside for Forage is defined by a single, concrete outcome: becoming the default payments infrastructure for the digitization of all government benefits.

Forage has already secured one of only three USDA approvals to operate as a third-party payment processor for online SNAP EBT, placing it in an exclusive regulatory moat alongside giants Fiserv and Worldpay [Digital Transactions, Retrieved 2026]. The initial wedge, simplifying EBT acceptance for online grocery, has proven traction with national platforms like Uber Eats and Instacart [joinforage.com, Retrieved 2026] [instacart.com, Retrieved 2026].

Scenario	What happens	Catalyst
Platform Expansion	Forage's API becomes the single integration for all government-administered payments (WIC, TANF, Medicaid).	A successful pilot or partnership to digitize another major federal or state benefits program.
Embedded Finance	Forage becomes the white-label EBT infrastructure embedded within major fintech apps.	A strategic partnership with a large digital wallet or financial services provider.
Vertical Dominance	Forage captures overwhelming market share in online grocery EBT.	A major national grocery chain signs an enterprise-wide deal.

Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- The core opportunity thesis is supported by public regulatory status and merchant case studies. Market size claims are sourced from company materials without independent third-party verification.

Sources

1. [LinkedIn] Forage | LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/company/forage-payments
2. [Digital Transactions, Retrieved 2026] Forage joins Fiserv Inc. and FIS Inc.’s Worldpay as one of three USDA-approved online EBT third-party payment processors | https://www.digitaltransactions.net/forage-joins-fiserv-inc-and-fis-inc-s-worldpay-as-one-of-three-usda-approved-online-ebt-third-party-payment-processors/
3. [TechCrunch] Fintech Roundup: Fintechs and banks are getting cozier | https://techcrunch.com/2022/03/06/fintech-roundup-banks-and-fintechs-are-increasingly-becoming-friendly-foes/
4. [Y Combinator] Forage: Payments infrastructure for government benefits | Y Combinator | https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/forage-2
5. [Forbes, Aug 2022] Food Stamp-Focused Fintech Raises $22 Million | https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffkauflin/2022/08/08/food-stamp-focused-fintech-raises-22-million/
6. [joinforage.com] About | Forage | https://www.joinforage.com/about
7. [PRNewswire] Forage Named to Inc. 2025 Best in Business List for Advancing Food Access | https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/forage-named-to-inc-2025-best-in-business-list-for-advancing-food-access-302630198.html
8. [USDA, November 2023] SNAP Data Tables | https://www.fns.usda.gov/pd/supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program-snap
9. [CB Insights, Nov 2025] Forage enables SNAP EBT payments on Uber Eats for Save A Lot | https://www.cbinsights.com/research/report/forage-enables-snap-ebt-payments-on-uber-eats-for-save-a-lot/
10. [instacart.com, Retrieved 2026] Instacart accepts EBT SNAP at Sprouts Farmers Market | https://www.instacart.com/help/section/360007623572
11. [Public Filings] Fiserv Inc. Investor Relations | https://investors.fiserv.com/