Blackbird Labs, a blockchain-based restaurant loyalty and payments app, has raised $50 million in a Series B funding round.
Spark Capital led the round, with participation from Coinbase, a16z crypto, Union Square Ventures, and Amex Ventures.
When customers visit a restaurant in Blackbird's network they can earn rewards such as last-minute access to tables and off-menu items.
They also earn a rewards currency called $FLY, which can be spent across Blackbird's network of 1000 restaurants in New York, San Francisco and Charleston. The new funding will be used to expand into more cities.
CEO Ben Leventhal previously founded restaurant reservation platform Resy, which was acquired by American Express in 2019. With Amex now an investor in Blackbird, he tells TechCrunch that integrating the two is likely.