History

Wolfe through the years

2022

Acquired Give InKind

Caring is a key value of Wolfe, LLC. While considering how we can offer a caring solution to our clients, we connected with Give InKind—a modern social platform that facilitates comprehensive support with its Care Calendar, Wishlist, and Donations on one easy-to-use page, empowering communities to support one another through life events that need more than just money.

2020

Sold Sentral

After considering many private equity and strategic buyers, Wolfe sold Sentral to PNC/Numo in 2020. Sentral is a debit gateway technology and business that helps large publishers track debit network transactions in the card-linked offer (CLO) space.

2018

Our Current Investments

Today Wolfe, LLC is focused on helping our company owned businesses and investments to grow. Our team is dedicated to creating and developing innovative solutions that transform their respective markets, and to make an impact.

2016

Sold GiftCards.com

After considering many private equity and strategic buyers, Wolfe sold GiftCards.com to Blackhawk Network for $120 million in January of 2016. GiftCards.com was the world's largest online gift card website selling over 10 million gift cards worth over $1 billion.

2011
Wolfe named Business Times Top Places to Work & Entrepreneur of the Year

By 2011, we started receiving a lot of recognition locally and even nationally. We were voted a top work place, 11th by Post Gazette. Our founder won the Earnst and Young Entrepreneur of the year award for our region. We were on national TV shows and websites mostly for leadership around GiftCards.com.

2010
Sold Jambo Media to Undertone

By 2010, Jambo Media was being sought after for purchase. The leader of Jambo, Rob Manoff was able to negotiate selling to Undertone, and we successfully sold that business in 2010 for $15 million. This was the fuel needed to continue to grow GiftCards.com and Omnicard.

2008
Invested in Jambo Media, Bought SwapAGift.com

In 2008, right before the real estate crash, we invested into Jambo Media and we bought Swapagift (a business of buying and selling unwanted gift cards. Unfortunately the market again crashed, and we had some bleaker times. Luckily during this time Jambo Media kept growing.

2007
Created Omniprepaid

Our founder had some life changes in 2006, and 2007 – but by the end of 2007 after buying GiftCards.com decided to invest into it. We opened Omni Prepaid Group under Wolfe, which owned and controlled GiftCards.com and OmniCard.com. We invested millions into a state of the art fulfillment center and grew the staff up to 50 people.

2006
Sold Direct Response Technologies

In 2006, Wolfe sold Direct Response Technologies to Digital River for $22 million. By then, Wolfe's flagship product ‘DirectTrack’ was delivering 16 billion ads per month and was used by thousands of clients worldwide with data centers in Africa, China, and around the globe. After the transaction, Wolfe was able to buy GiftCards.com and MyCoupons from Digital River.

2002
Launched Direct Response Technologies

In 2002, Wolfe began Direct Response Technologies, an affiliate tracking technology. He also raised money from the State of North Dakota in exchange for an equity stake in the company. Wolfe did this to grow his company and survive the dot-com bubble burst. His decision proved successful reaching 75 employees and major profitability.

2000
MyCoupons sold to Save.com

About two months before the dot-com bubble burst, MyCoupons was sold to our competitor, Save.com, for roughly $23 million in 2000.

1999
Raised Venture Capital

Wolfe was able to raise $500,000 venture capital from Internet.com and gave up a portion of the company. This enabled Wolfe to expand his officespace and hire a total of 15 employees. Soon after, Wolfe started the first gift certificate website. Originally called DirectCertificates, the company was later was renamed GiftCards.com and became the largest online gift card website.

1995
Internet's First Coupon Website

In 1995, Wolfe founded the first online coupon site, known initially as CouponsDirect.com. The site would eventually be renamed MyCoupons.com. The business provided coupons for companies. In the first year of operation, MyCoupons only earned around $1,000. By 1999, however, the business was garnering over $1 million in annual sales and 20 million page views per month. The company also had around 3 million registered members.

1994
Self-Taught

After graduation, Wolfe spent two years as a whitewater rafting guide in West Virginia before deciding to move to Pittsburgh. Soon after his move in 1994, he was involved in an accident that required him to undergo two spinal surgeries. While recovering, he wound up living out of his car. He taught himself how to code by using books at the local library and CompUSA's 'Building the Perfect Web' among others.

1969
The Early Years

Jason Wolfe grew up in a family of three children. His father left the family when Wolfe was six years old, leaving his mother to raise him and his siblings alone. Wolfe's mother was disabled and on welfare. In 1980 when Wolfe was 10 years old, his mother sent him to the Milton Hershey School, a boarding school for disadvantaged children in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Wolfe graduated from the school in 1987. He attributes much of his later business success to the principles he learned at the Hershey School. After graduating from the Hershey School, Wolfe attended Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania. He graduated with a B.S. in Marketing in 1992.