Expense management startup Ramp is in consideration for participation in a charge card pilot program led by the General Services Administration (GSA) of the U.S. federal government, the company confirmed recently. Ramp’s potential inclusion in this program, part of the government’s broader SmartPay initiative, could be notably significant, given that SmartPay is responsible for approximately $700 billion in federal expenditure.
The specific pilot contract Ramp is vying for is reportedly valued at up to $25 million. Ramp has been actively positioning itself as a streamlined and efficient option for governmental procurement of expense management services since earlier this year. In January, Ramp CEO and co-founder Eric Glyman, alongside Kyle Harrison of venture firm Contrary, authored a blog post entitled “The Efficiency Formula,” outlining ways the federal government could curb waste and unnecessary spending.
The blog closely echoed themes aligned with the agenda of the newly established Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a federal entity inspired by and nominally associated with Elon Musk’s recent initiatives. Ramp maintains close connections within the Musk and Trump circles, counting among its investors Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, Keith Rabois at Khosla Ventures, Thrive Capital (founder Joshua Kushner is the brother of Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law), as well as Joe Lonsdale from Trump-aligned 8VC, and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush.
Ramp’s head of communications, Lindsay McKinley, indicated that the company was drawn into the government’s procurement process after noticing a DOGE announcement on social media platform X in February. DOGE highlighted that the U.S. government oversees roughly 4.6 million active credit card accounts, handling nearly 90 million transactions and $40 billion of spending during fiscal year 2024. Shortly after this announcement, Ramp says it was introduced to the GSA by one of its former customers.
McKinley clarified that Ramp engaged in product demonstrations for federal officials and is currently participating in a formal Request for Information (RFI) process, though the outcome is still uncertain. She expressed confidence in Ramp’s technology and its capacity to reduce waste and inefficiency, underscoring its reported success in generating billions in cost savings for commercial clients.
Ramp specializes in corporate spend management software, enabling organizations to enforce spending policies and identify non-compliant expenses swiftly and efficiently—features appealing to a governmental buyer managing billions in taxpayer dollars.
The startup has seen significant growth and investor confidence recently, underscored by a secondary share sale in March that nearly doubled Ramp’s valuation to $13 billion. Since its founding in 2019, the fintech firm has secured over $1 billion in equity and an additional $700 million in debt financing commitments.
