SCOUT Military Discounts

SCOUT Military Discounts operated as a mobile-centric marketplace designed to connect the military community with local and national retail discounts. The company was founded in 2014 by Cody McGraw, who identified a need for a centralized, mobile-first solution to the often unpublicized world of military savings. The idea stemmed from the cultural reluctance within the military community to ask for discounts, a problem the platform aimed to solve through technology.

The core product was a free mobile application for iOS and Android devices that aggregated and verified tens of thousands of discounts for active-duty personnel, veterans, and their families. A key feature of the platform was its use of geofencing; the app would send a notification to a user's device upon entering a participating store, detailing the available discount. This removed the need for the service member to inquire first. For users without smartphones, the company also maintained an online marketplace. The platform was free for the military community to use. The business model was based on a revenue-sharing agreement with the merchants for products sold through the SCOUT marketplace and app.

Headquartered in Portland, Oregon, the company was a formerly venture-backed startup, having raised a total of $290K in funding over three rounds, with its seed round led by Elevate Capital. Despite early partnerships and a growing database of discounts, PitchBook and Tracxn list the company as out of business or deadpooled as of early 2019.

Keywords: military discounts, veteran savings, mobile marketplace, retail deals, geofencing alerts, armed forces benefits, service member discounts, e-commerce platform, local retail offers, discount aggregation, veteran community, military families, mobile application, Cody McGraw, Portland startup