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---
description: WeGift adopts the Runa name in March 2023, building on gift card infrastructure with plans to connect more forms of digital value.
title: WeGift Relaunches as Runa With Plans for a Broader Digital Payout Network
image: https://giftcard.news/images/social/v1/wegift-relaunches-runa-plans-broader-digital-payout-network-29d7b2f87d068ccf72623af35afe73b5.jpg
---

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# WeGift Relaunches as Runa With Plans for a Broader Digital Payout Network

WeGift adopts the Runa name in March 2023, building on gift card infrastructure with plans to connect more forms of digital value.

By [Maya Bennett](https://giftcard.news/author/maya-bennett/) Published: March 30, 2023 at 09:08 AM 1 min read 

Share [ ](https://x.com/intent/post?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fgift-cards%2Fruna-launches-digital-value-infrastructure-to-unlock-instant-payments-in-ba75b1a396be%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dx%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&text=WeGift%20Relaunches%20as%20Runa%20With%20Plans%20for%20a%20Broader%20Digital%20Payout%20Network "X") [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fgift-cards%2Fruna-launches-digital-value-infrastructure-to-unlock-instant-payments-in-ba75b1a396be%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dlinkedin%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial "LinkedIn") [ ](https://wa.me/?text=WeGift%20Relaunches%20as%20Runa%20With%20Plans%20for%20a%20Broader%20Digital%20Payout%20Network%20https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fgift-cards%2Fruna-launches-digital-value-infrastructure-to-unlock-instant-payments-in-ba75b1a396be%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dwhatsapp%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial "WhatsApp") 

![Runa](https://giftcard.news/images/variants/v1/wegift-relaunches-runa-plans-broader-digital-payout-network-w1200.webp) 

 Photo: Source: runa.io 

[WeGift](https://giftcard.news/company/runa/) introduced the Runa name on March 30, 2023, alongside plans to expand its gift card infrastructure into a broader network for transferring digital value.

The company described ambitions spanning prepaid balances, loyalty points, air miles, cryptocurrency and other digital assets. It positioned the service for business-to-consumer payouts and for helping recipients spend value with connected merchants.

Runa said its existing operation had distributed more than 22.5 million gift cards across 30 countries and 18 currencies since its founding in 2016\. It also reported relationships with more than 1,300 businesses.

The strategy builds on the closed-loop systems used to issue and redeem gift cards. Runa proposed connecting additional types of value through a shared software layer, alongside established banking and card networks.

Founder [Aron Alexander](https://giftcard.news/person/aron-alexander/) argued that businesses would increasingly need to accept and distribute different digital assets. Those comments set out the company’s market outlook and product direction, rather than evidence that every proposed asset category was already available everywhere.

Runa remained headquartered in London. Its named investors at launch included [Element Ventures](https://giftcard.news/company/element-ventures/), [CommerzVentures](https://giftcard.news/company/commerzventures/), [Clocktower Ventures](https://giftcard.news/company/clocktower-ventures/), [Volution Capital](https://giftcard.news/company/volution-capital/), [AlbionVC](https://giftcard.news/company/albionvc/) and [SAP](https://giftcard.news/company/sap/).

## Sources and documents

ExpandCollapse 
* [Runa (formerly WeGift) Launches to Empower Individuals and Businesses to Unlock Digital Value](https://runa.io/press-release/runa-formerly-wegift-launch?utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news) — runa.io

## In this article

### Companies

* [AlbionVC](https://giftcard.news/company/albionvc/)
* [Clocktower Ventures](https://giftcard.news/company/clocktower-ventures/)
* [CommerzVentures](https://giftcard.news/company/commerzventures/)
* [Element Ventures](https://giftcard.news/company/element-ventures/)
* [Runa](https://giftcard.news/company/runa/)
* [SAP](https://giftcard.news/company/sap/)
* [Volution Capital](https://giftcard.news/company/volution-capital/)

### People

* [Aron Alexander](https://giftcard.news/person/aron-alexander/)

Share [ ](https://x.com/intent/post?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fgift-cards%2Fruna-launches-digital-value-infrastructure-to-unlock-instant-payments-in-ba75b1a396be%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dx%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&text=WeGift%20Relaunches%20as%20Runa%20With%20Plans%20for%20a%20Broader%20Digital%20Payout%20Network "X") [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fgift-cards%2Fruna-launches-digital-value-infrastructure-to-unlock-instant-payments-in-ba75b1a396be%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dlinkedin%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial "LinkedIn") [ ](https://wa.me/?text=WeGift%20Relaunches%20as%20Runa%20With%20Plans%20for%20a%20Broader%20Digital%20Payout%20Network%20https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Fgift-cards%2Fruna-launches-digital-value-infrastructure-to-unlock-instant-payments-in-ba75b1a396be%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dwhatsapp%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial "WhatsApp") 

![Portrait of Maya Bennett](https://giftcard.news/images/variants/v1/maya-bennett-editorial-portrait-w320.webp) 

About the author

## [Maya Bennett](https://giftcard.news/author/maya-bennett/)

Journalist — Rewards & Loyalty

Maya Bennett covers customer loyalty, employee rewards and incentive programmes for Gift Card News.

From reading to building

## Your next move in gift cards.

Tell us what you’re building. We’ll help you explore suitable providers.

[Find a provider ](https://giftcard.news/find-a-provider/) 

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