Being at the helm of Ansa: Sophia Goldberg

"Sophia is a payments nerd." 

This is how Sophia Goldberg, CEO and co-founder of the two-year-old startup Ansa, introduces herself in "The Field Guide to Global Payments," an exhaustive handbook she published in 2022 that explains the many ways money moves throughout the world. She wrote the book for two reasons: First, she wished such a reference book existed when she was starting out in the industry.

And second: "I was bored during COVID," she said. The project helped Goldberg channel her creativity and fill in the gaps in her own knowledge of the industry.

Ansa creates stored-value digital wallets for retail stores. It's a niche that many companies have attempted to serve in the past, but where few have found success. "We have learned a lot from history," she said.  

Additionally, the market has changed in the past decade, and consumers and merchants are both clearer about what they want. 

"So you're changing less and less about consumer behavior," Goldberg said. "If we're trying to change any consumer behavior, try and change nothing else."

Retailers, similarly, are sick of cluttering their checkout pages with too many payment options. They don't want to add a specific wallet just for the occasional customer who might favor it. Stores want to reserve that space for the option that appeals to their most loyal customers and incentivizes their spending, she said. Ansa's goal is to provide an offering that the merchant favors versus the old approach of putting out every option possible for consumers.

The proof is in the data, Goldberg said. In the past year, Ansa has documented a roughly 30% increase in frequency and retention among its customers, especially those in the coffee and quick-serve restaurant spaces. Compass Coffee, an Ansa customer, reports a 26% increase in revenue among its digital wallet users in the product's first months.

Ansa is expanding. It announced a $14 million Series A funding round at the end of April, led by Renegade Partners. The funding will go toward engineering, product development and hiring, Goldberg said.

Goldberg's business has not distracted from her writing; Ansa's website includes a blog where she shares her perspective on the forces changing the payments industry. It's more than just a creative outlet.

"It helps build trust that we know what's going on in the industry," she said. "We're paying attention, we care about what we're trying to do and the area we're innovating in."