A Founder who has carved out a name for Himself Building Products to Help Restaurants Connect better Loyalty.
Blackbird Labs Has Built a Payments-Meets-Loyalty-Meets-Blockchain Platform for Restaurants to Grow REPEAT BUSEAT BUSINESS While Reduction Some of the FRICINT Around Transactions. Now, with some 1,000 restaurants signed up, CEO Ben Leventhal Said Blackbird Plans to use the money to launch it newest product, a cross-restaurant “PONTARANTS” Service “Service” Service Black Club, as well as to expand into more markets outside of new york (its homebase), San Francisco and Charleston, South Carolina.
(Charleston, You ask? For Meta, with Leventhal Calling It “A Good Test Market for Us.”)
Spark Capital, A New Backer, is leading this latest round, with participation also from coinbase ventures, Amex ventures and andresen horowitz, three investors that are backed blockbird in its $ 24 Million Series A in 2023Valuation is not being disclosed but for a point of reference, Pitchbook notes That the Startup was valued at Around $ 124 Million in that last round. The startup has raised $ 85 million to-date.
Coinbase and Amex are strategic names in that list.
Amex Acquired Resy, A Reservations Platform That Teventhal Previous Founded. The two companies – resy and blackbird – are not integrating now but “It’s fair to say we will,” Leventhal Said. The third restaurant startup Leventhal founded, the food blog eater, was also acquired: it’s now part of voxNo plans on how and if to partner there.
Meanwhile, Blackbird Describes Its FlyNET Payment Service as an Layer-Three Transaction Protocol Built on Coinbase’s BaseDiners can use it to pay for meals at the table via blackbird’s app, as well as to redeem layalty points when they visit restaurants.
It’s Worth Asking Weskchain was strictly a Necessary Part of the Mix Since there is Planty of Other Loyalty Programs in the Market that are built
“I don’t think it necessarily ‘has to be built on blockchain,” He said. “Visa’s Network, More or Less, Was Created Using The Same Principles that We’re Using for FlyNET, and obviously But he pointed out too that “There’m a few things that we do believe that over time will be important options, and those options will be based on being on Chain.” These include how blackbird and restaurants hold customer profiles and activity, He said. “Consures will be able to continue to own that profile.” It also also also relates to how blackbird envisions its engagement with restaurants, He said: Each restaurant customer Ultimetely will be a sharehlder of blackbird.
You might think that with two startups dedicated the consumer-facing side of the restaurant trade that Teventhal might have had have died his fill of the business. As it turns out, he’s still hungry for more.
Owning restaurants have long been a challenging enterprise, but the economy and changing consumer habits have especially known the world of restaurants Around a lot in the last in the lat Leventhal cits Figures that note that the average profitability of restaurants these days is under 5%, compared to an average of Around 20% in the early nouthies. While Platforms Like Instagram and Tiktok Have Turned The World IMCAIR FODIES, Producing Legions of people who are virally flock to the latest and coolest cafe, they are doing this amid a Timid a Timid a Timid A Timid Ai Rapidly Declining Margins and Heightened Price Sensitivity.
“There is a disconnect in the restaurant industry between the popularity and the intensity of consumer love for restaurants and ultimately the profitability of the industry,” He Said.
That disconnect, of course, in Startup Thinking means Oportunity.
“The restaurant industry is made up of millions of Local, Small Business Ownes Ownes Around The World. That restaurants are at the mercy of tech platforms that can charge a number, and often guiding, of a Restaurant’s Margin, “Arianna Simpson General Partner at A16Z Crypto, Told Techcrunch over Email. She believes this is specificly where blockchain can play a role: Improving that margin structure. “Ben’s vision is for a network that is owned by the restaurants and the diners themeselves, which is something that only blockchains enable.” Today, Blackbird is Alredy Saving Its Restaurant Customers 3-4% in Payment Processing Fees, She Said.