A16z Leads Investment in Blackbird Labs’ Innovative Customer Loyalty Solutions

Blackbird Labs, a tech firm specializing in customer loyalty solutions for the hospitality industry, recently closed a Series A funding round with $24 million. The round was led by venture capital heavyweight Andreessen Horowitz, also known as A16z. New investors Amex Ventures and Bolt by QED joined the round, along with existing backers Union Square Ventures, Shine Capital, and Variant. The investment pool was further enriched by the participation of several renowned restaurant chains, including Quality Branded, Rustic Canyon Family, Souvla, and Brooks Reitz.

Blackbird announced the successful closure of the funding round on X:

The funds are earmarked for scaling operations to meet increasing demand for customer loyalty solutions. Blackbird Labs has already formed partnerships with over 80 leading U.S. restaurant chains. Among these, 22 have gone live with the company’s customer loyalty program. The platform enables restaurants to collect valuable data on customer preferences, enhancing the dining experience.

Blackbird CEO Ben Leventhal emphasized the pressing challenges in the restaurant industry, such as declining profit margins and weakening customer relationships. He noted that the fresh capital would be pivotal in tackling these issues. The significance of a leading firm like A16z leading the round was highlighted as a key factor in achieving the company’s objectives.

In May 2023, the company launched its native token, $FLY. This non-transferable on-platform currency allows customers to redeem perks instantly across participating restaurants. The introduction of $FLY adds a layer of innovation to traditional customer loyalty programs.

Furthermore, Blackbird Labs has future plans to diversify its offerings. These include a new referral program and features that allow diners to opt into global data sharing. This will give restaurants a more comprehensive view of customer dining history and preferences, rewarding customers with additional $FLY tokens for their regular dining activities.

Amidst this backdrop, Eddy Lazzarin, CTO at A16z, discussed the evolving landscape of crypto development in a recent tweet. He pointed out that while market trends are important, there’s growing interest in crypto development activity outside of open-source infrastructure.

Lazzarin specifically cited Blackbird Labs as a company working mainly in the application layer in private repositories. He also mentioned that A16z’s State of Crypto Index includes a counter-metric: the number of NPM downloads for key crypto libraries, which reached an all-time high this month.