Press: On October 4, 2023, a16z announced that it was leading the US$24 million Series A financing of Blackbird, a web3 restaurant loyalty application. Arianna Simpson, a partner at a16z, posted an article explaining her investment logic. Compiled by Jinse Finance 0xxz.
One of the joys of living in New York City is that you’re never more than a few minutes away from a great meal.
Restaurants have long provided customers with great food, a place to socialize and entertainment. While the restaurant industry has evolved, creating more value for diners, cities and society, they often lack commensurate profit margins.
We’ve seen blockchain enable direct connections between creators and fans in the music and arts sectors, where it allows creators to identify, engage with and reward their most loyal, passionate fans .
What if restaurants could do the same? What does it mean for the experience they can create for their customers?
Building products for restaurants is tricky—restaurant ownership is often fragmented, there are few economies of scale, and the technology itself is rarely a selling point. But sometimes we are lucky enough to encounter a thoughtful founder who operates wisely within his area of expertise and is now supported by new technology that makes investment decisions easy.
Blackbird, led by CEO and founder Ben Leventhal, is committed to delivering a personalized elevated dining experience through web3 that rewards and delights consumers .
When it comes to restaurants, Ben is the epitome of founder-market fit. It seems unbelievable that the age of booking a restaurant reservation online, let alone reviewing a restaurant online - and for all of this we have to thank people like Ben. Ben was the co-founder and CEO of Resy, a platform for managing reservations at the world's most popular restaurants, which he sold to American Express in 2019. Long before that, Ben co-founded Eater in 2005, an online guide to America's food and nightlife venues.
Over lunch, as we got to know each other, I told Ben that it felt like Blackbird was the final chapter of his career. His eyes lit up. "Yeah," he said, "that's it. I've been working on it my whole life."
Ben loves restaurants. And the restaurant loves him.
Blackbird has only been online for a few months, and we're already seeing the restaurant community adopt and shape the platform. Restaurants are using Blackbird to offer rewards to customers, ranging from free drinks and snacks, to off-menu items, to private meals prepared by chefs at home, and allowing users to pre-order memberships at new restaurants.
It's a world of endless delicious possibilities. That’s why today we’re so excited to announce that we’re leading Blackbird’s $24 million Series A to power this future.
To discover all restaurants in the Blackbird network and see a list of upcoming restaurants, visit Blackbird.xyz and check out Where to Blackbird.
