There’s a new startup aiming to reward restaurant patrons through crypto.

What’s happening:

• New York based startup Blackbird recently raised a $24M Series A round to advance their mobile app that is changing restaurant rewards via a crypto token
• The round was led by a16z with other notable investors such as Union Square Ventures, Shine, Variant and more

Why it matters:

• Many critiques of crypto is the lack of real world use cases which Blackbird is aiming to put their own unique spin on
• Very few venture backed startups are building technology for restaurants to be able to increase their growth and customer experience

How it works:

• Blackbird has a mobile app that individual uses at participating restaurants
• Restaurants using Blackbird have a digital membership card for patrons that exists within the Blackbird app
• That digital membership card builds up data on their preferences in food, drinks and even seating
• When users participate through the Blackbird app they earn their crypto native token known as FLY
• FLY token is then redeemable for rewards such as food, drinks and even concierge services

Going deeper:

• Blackbird is built onto Coinbase’s layer 2 chain Base
• There are no gas fees for users to earn rewards

By the numbers:

• Currently Blackbird is being used by 22 different restaurants in the United States

The intrigue:

• The venture arm of American Express is an early investor in Blackbird

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