Forage

Cover Block

PUBLIC

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

PUBLIC

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

Executive Summary

PUBLIC 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, giving the founding group a clear view of the technical and regulatory complexities they now aim to abstract away for merchants [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 arduous USDA approval process, specific 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]. The primary metric to watch over the next 12-18 months is merchant adoption beyond early grocery and delivery partners like Uber Eats and Sprouts, as the company seeks to prove that its infrastructure can become the standard layer for all forms of restricted government payments.

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)

Company Overview

PUBLIC

Forage was founded in 2019 by Ofek Lavian, Amit Golan, and Jack Cho to build payments infrastructure for government benefits, a sector historically underserved by digital commerce [Y Combinator]. The company emerged from Y Combinator's accelerator program, which provided its initial seed funding and network [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, a critical regulatory gate that positioned Forage alongside established incumbents Fiserv and Worldpay [Digital Transactions].

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

Product and Technology

MIXED

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 not fraud or conversion, but 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, operating its own platform for end-to-end transaction processing [joinforage.com].

Functionally, the API enables several merchant-friendly features that are non-trivial in the EBT context. It supports mixed baskets, allowing a cart to contain both EBT-eligible and ineligible items, and in some deployments, it enables split-tender transactions where a customer can pay part of a bill with EBT and the remainder with a credit or debit card [PRNewswire]. The infrastructure is designed to integrate with existing e-commerce stacks and payment gateways, aiming to make the addition of EBT acceptance a straightforward technical lift rather than a multi-year regulatory project.

Publicly available details on the underlying technology stack are sparse. The company's public job postings from 2026 reference roles in Quebec, Canada, which are not directly aligned with its reported San Francisco headquarters and core engineering team [PUBLIC]. Inferred from the product description and the nature of payment processing, the stack likely involves robust backend systems for transaction routing, compliance logging, and real-time authorization, but specific languages or frameworks are not disclosed.

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

Market Research

PUBLIC

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.

The company's public messaging anchors on a large, underserved population. Forage cites an estimated 42 million Americans receiving government assistance, primarily through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), framing the market for restricted payments as a "trillion dollar opportunity" [LinkedIn]. These figures are not sourced to a specific third-party report, but they align with public government data. 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, a figure that has grown in recent years and represents the immediate, addressable transaction volume flowing through the program [USDA].

Demand drivers are structural and regulatory. The pandemic accelerated a permanent shift toward online grocery shopping, yet SNAP recipients were largely excluded from e-commerce until pilot programs began. 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. A secondary driver is the growing pressure on large retailers and delivery platforms to demonstrate social impact and inclusivity, making EBT acceptance a feature of competitive necessity.

Adjacent and substitute markets define the scope of expansion. The core SAM is online and in-app SNAP EBT transactions for food. The SOM within that is the subset of merchants using Forage's API versus building in-house or using a competing processor. The company's public materials also mention EBT Cash (TANF) and WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) as adjacent government benefit programs, suggesting a roadmap for product expansion into other "restricted payment" rails. The primary substitute is the status quo: beneficiaries using physical EBT cards at point-of-sale terminals in brick-and-mortar stores. Forage's growth is contingent on the continued migration of grocery spend online.

Regulatory forces are the dominant macro risk and moat-builder. The entire market exists at the discretion of the USDA and state agencies. Any change in program rules, approval processes, or funding could directly impact transaction volume. Conversely, this regulatory complexity is Forage's key barrier to entry. 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]. This approval is a significant competitive advantage, as it is a prerequisite for any merchant seeking to accept SNAP online.

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

The chart underscores the scale of the core benefit program but also highlights a critical nuance: Forage's revenue is a fee on a portion of this transaction volume, not the total itself. The real market size for the company is the percentage of SNAP benefits spent online through integrated merchants, a figure that is growing but remains a single-digit share of the total.

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

MIXED

Forage operates in a narrow but heavily regulated segment of payments infrastructure, where competition is defined more by regulatory gatekeeping and technical specialization than by pure feature wars. 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	Notable Differentiator	Source
Forage	API-first specialist for EBT SNAP/Cash online & in-store	Series A (~$22M)	One of only three USDA-approved online EBT processors; unified API for complex compliance	[Y Combinator]; [Digital Transactions, Retrieved 2026]
Fiserv	Global payments & financial services incumbent	Public (FISV)	Dominant market share in traditional EBT processing; extensive merchant & bank relationships	[Digital Transactions, Retrieved 2026]
Worldpay (FIS)	Global merchant acquirer & payment processor	Public (FIS)	Another USDA-approved online EBT processor; massive scale and global distribution	[Digital Transactions, Retrieved 2026]

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]. This creates a significant barrier to entry for new pure-play startups. A second layer consists of adjacent payment service providers (PSPs) and gateways like Stripe or Adyen, which could theoretically build EBT capabilities but have not pursued the complex, low-margin regulatory path. The third layer includes point-of-sale (POS) and grocery e-commerce platform providers, such as Shopify or Mercato, which could integrate EBT as a feature; Forage's strategy is to be the infrastructure provider for these platforms, not compete with them.

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. By abstracting state-level processor integrations, PIN-entry flows, and basket compliance into a unified API, Forage reduces integration time and cost for merchants [Y Combinator]. This focus is perishable, however, if a larger incumbent decides to modernize its own developer tools or if the regulatory environment shifts to lower the technical barriers to entry.

The company's primary exposure is to the scale and entrenched relationships of its direct competitors, Fiserv and Worldpay. These incumbents own the lion's share of in-store EBT processing and have deep, long-term contracts with national grocery chains. Forage must displace these relationships or convince merchants to adopt a secondary, specialized processor for their online channel, creating potential friction. Furthermore, Forage's model is vulnerable to any strategic move by a major PSP or gateway to enter the space, as these players already own the primary payment integration for many target merchants.

The most plausible 18-month scenario involves continued fragmentation by channel. Forage is likely to solidify its position as the preferred specialist for digital-native grocers, delivery platforms, and marketplaces seeking a modern API. A winner in this segment would be a platform like Uber Eats, which has already integrated Forage to accept EBT SNAP in California [joinforage.com, Retrieved 2026]. The loser in a scenario of slow online SNAP adoption would be smaller independent grocers who cannot justify the integration cost; they may remain dependent on in-store-only systems from the incumbents. The key variable is whether the USDA's pilot program for online SNAP expands, driving more merchants online and increasing the total addressable market for Forage's specialized infrastructure.

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

Opportunity

PUBLIC

The upside for Forage is defined by a single, concrete outcome: becoming the default payments infrastructure for the digitization of all government benefits, a role that could be worth billions if it captures even a fraction of a massive, regulated, and technically complex market.

The headline opportunity is to be the category-defining platform for restricted payments, akin to what Stripe did for online credit card processing. The evidence that this outcome is reachable, not merely aspirational, rests on two pillars. First, 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]. Second, the initial wedge,simplifying EBT acceptance for online grocery,has proven traction with national platforms like Uber Eats and Instacart, demonstrating that large, scaled merchants are willing to adopt a dedicated API to access this customer segment [joinforage.com, Retrieved 2026] [instacart.com, Retrieved 2026]. The company is not selling a hypothetical solution; it is operating the plumbing for a mandatory shift towards digital benefit distribution.

Multiple paths exist for Forage to scale from its current beachhead. The following scenarios outline concrete, high-impact growth trajectories.

Scenario	What happens	Catalyst	Why it's plausible
Platform Expansion	Forage's API becomes the single integration for all government-administered payments (WIC, TANF, Medicaid), moving beyond SNAP.	A successful pilot or partnership to digitize another major federal or state benefits program.	The technical and regulatory complexity for SNAP is a proxy for other restricted payments; the company's mission statement explicitly targets "government benefits" broadly [Y Combinator].
Embedded Finance	Forage becomes the white-label EBT infrastructure embedded within major fintech apps, neobanks, and gig economy platforms to offer benefit access.	A strategic partnership with a large digital wallet or financial services provider seeking to serve underbanked populations.	The company already powers integrations for delivery marketplaces, proving the model works within third-party apps [CB Insights, Nov 2025].
Vertical Dominance	Forage captures overwhelming market share in online grocery EBT, becoming the de facto standard as more states mandate or incentivize digital SNAP acceptance.	A major national grocery chain signs an enterprise-wide deal, triggering a competitive land grab among other retailers.	The company is already approved to serve "large national chains" and the competitive set is limited to two other approved processors [joinforage.com] [Digital Transactions, Retrieved 2026].

What compounding looks like for Forage is a classic example of a regulatory and data flywheel. Each new merchant integration generates more transaction data on EBT purchasing patterns, which can be used to refine fraud models and improve authorization rates,a key performance metric for processors. Higher authorization rates and smoother compliance reduce operational risk, making the platform more attractive to the next, larger merchant. Furthermore, every successful deployment with a retailer like Albertsons or a platform like Uber Eats serves as a powerful reference case, lowering the sales friction for similar merchants in the same vertical. The flywheel is already in motion, evidenced by the expansion from independent grocers to national chains and delivery platforms within a few years [joinforage.com].

The size of the win can be framed by looking at comparable infrastructure plays. Fiserv, one of Forage's two direct competitors in the USDA-approved online EBT processing space, has a market capitalization exceeding $90 billion, though its EBT business is a small segment within a vast portfolio [Public Filings]. A more focused comparable might be the acquisition multiples for niche payment processors with regulatory expertise, which often trade at significant revenue multiples due to high switching costs. If the "Platform Expansion" scenario plays out and Forage becomes the central infrastructure for multiple benefit programs, the company could plausibly command a valuation in the low billions (scenario, not a forecast), representing a substantial return on its current Series A capital.

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

Sources

PUBLIC

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/