This week, Blackbird, a startup constructing a Web3-powered restaurant loyalty platform, introduced it had raised a $24 million Collection A funding spherical led by a16z’s crypto staff with participation from Amex Ventures and Bolt by QED, amongst others.
With the information, the corporate lifted the curtain round its platform and the way it works. When clients arrive at a restaurant, they provoke membership by tapping their smartphone on Blackbird’s NFC reader. From there, Blackbird points an NFT, which acts as an identification card that retains monitor of the shopper’s relationship with the restaurant. When a buyer returns and faucets with the NFC reader, it acts as a digital handshake that sends information related to a buyer’s membership to the restaurant, akin to first and final identify, deal with, and eating historical past.
Briefly, the platform is designed to work with out burdening the shopper or the restaurant with technical know-how. The Web3 expertise works within the background, making a pockets for patrons to carry their NFTs and the $FLY tokens earned over time.
It’s clear from the announcement that the corporate isn’t leaning too closely in branding itself as a Web3 firm however as an alternative emphasizing what founder Ben Leventhal sees as a friction-free, next-generation loyalty platform that helps smaller operators who could not have a big technical workers or inside sources.
“Blackbird works very properly in the event you couldn’t presumably care much less concerning the blockchain,” Leventhal instructed The Spoon. “That’s essential as a result of the adoption of blockchain and the eagerness across the blockchain is slightly particular and restricted proper now. And we have to create magic for all visitors, no matter how they consider tech, or if they consider tech in any respect.”
Nonetheless, whereas Leventhal and Blackbird aren’t emphasizing the platform’s Web3 underpinnings, there’s little question that a lot of the thrill across the firm and the explanation it was capable of increase cash from blue chips like Andreessen Horowitz in a difficult atmosphere is exactly as a result of it’s a web3 firm; there’s a way amongst traders and early companions that the corporate’s expertise may, in a roundabout way, upend the standard restaurant loyalty expertise market.
I requested Leventhal how he thinks his firm’s Web3 tech differentiates itself from what’s on the market at this time. He pointed to a marketing campaign his early trial companions ran this summer time in partnership with Coinbase known as the Summer season Candy Go as a part of Coinbase’s OnChain Summer season.
“Should you’re any person who likes dessert, you’ve got a candy tooth, and also you’re in New York in August, we curated eight restaurant desserts for you that you can, by advantage of getting this move in your Blackbird pockets, take pleasure in. I believe that there are doubtlessly a number of layers of neighborhood and connectivity that we will energy for eating places.”
It turned clear throughout our dialog that Leventhal thinks his firm can enchantment to the passionate – however comparatively small – neighborhood that wishes to leverage blockchain and Web3 at this time to faucet into experiences within the bodily world whereas additionally serving to eating places construct loyalty platforms which have extra headroom to develop sooner or later whereas not placing any vital technical burden on their small staffs or the shopper.
In line with Leventhal, a low technical burden is particularly essential for smaller impartial operators, the kind of buyer that Blackbird is concentrating on.
“We’re attempting to concentrate on impartial eating places to assist them degree the taking part in discipline towards a few of these, you recognize, very, very severe opponents,” mentioned Leventhal. “The typical impartial espresso store is competing with Starbucks for his or her clients. The typical impartial restaurant competes with Sweetgreen and PF Chang’s for his or her clients. So that they’re going to wish some instruments to do this successfully.”
That is Leventhal’s third restaurant trade startup. He based the meals media firm Eater practically 20 years in the past earlier than promoting it to Vox and began reservation tech firm Resy in 2013 earlier than promoting it to American Categorical in 2019.
I requested Leventhal how issues evaluate at this time to these earlier eras.
“Twenty years in the past, and the common restaurant is making ten to 12 % margin,” mentioned Leventhal. “Immediately, it’s three to 4. So, we have to proceed to consider what the longer term for eating places appears like. And to me, a giant a part of the issue isn’t across the form of reservations expertise – that’s now a fairly mature and strong space of expertise – I believe it’s about core connectivity to eating places and visitors and giving eating places to take advantage of their most loyal clients.”
