The expense management startup lamp is being considered for a charge card pilot program by the U.S. government’s General Services Agency, the company confirmed Thursday with TechCrunch.
The government’s internal fee card program, known as SmartPay, is a $700 billion program. According to a report from Pro Publica, the charge card pilot program contracts under consideration for which RAMP is being considered are estimated to be worth up to $25 million.
Pro Publica claims that Fintech lamps have been calling the administration’s attention since January before President Trump is sworn in.
In January, RAMP co-founders Eric Glyman and RAMP VC Investor Kyle Harrison wrote a blog post entitled “The Efficiency Formula,” which lists the ways the government imagined to “eliminate inefficient spending.” Harrison is the general partner of the opposite company.
The post appeared to appeal to Elon Musk’s government agenda (formally created as government efficiency in a few days). Lamp investors include the Founders Fund of Peter Thiel. Keith Rabois of Khosla Ventures; Thrive Capital was founded by Joshua Kushner, brother of Trump’s step-son Jared. brothers of Trump allies 8VC Joe Lonsdale and Jeb Bush, former governor of Florida and former Republican President George W. Bush.
Ramp competes in the standard procurement process for SmartPay pilot programs based on the strength of the solution,” Lindsay McKinley, head of Communications, told TechCrunch on Thursday.
She added: “RAMP’s technology prevents billions of dollars in wasted spending across the economy. If chosen, it will bring the same outcome to American taxpayers.”
Despite McKinley’s powerful rhetoric, she mentions how Lamp positions herself as a savings option for businesses. It offers spending management capabilities similar to other company expense management platforms, such as setting parameters to identify costs that are not compliant with policies. The federal government has many such policies for its employees.
McKinley said the startup saw a public post on February 18 about X shared by government efficiency, known as Doge.
A former customer claims they introduced lamps to the GSA a few days later.
“Since then, we’ve demonstrated our products and are now part of the standard RFI process,” she said. “It doesn’t show whether we’re going to be selected or not.”
In March, RAMP doubled its valuation to $13 billion after a $150 million subsidy sale. Since its launch in 2019, the startup has raised over $1 billion in equity funding and $700 million in committed debt funding.
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