Another week, another piece of big news from Bilt — with the latest turn potentially taking the platform in a new direction.
About Bilt’s Acquisition of LAVA:
Today, Bilt revealed that it had acquired the sports loyalty technology company LAVA. The transaction is valued at $300 million and marks a new expansion for Bilt.
LAVA is a real-time loyalty rewards platform that has relationships with professional sports franchises and other organizations. For example, the service currently has deals with the likes of the NFL’s Detroit Lions, the NBA’s Denver Nuggets, the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes, and MLS’s LAFC, among dozens of others. As Bilt notes, LAVA’s technology is meant to connect fans with sports teams and venues.
One aspect of LAVA that Bilt calls out is its Realtime AI. This tech will help further enable personalized benefits and build upon Bilt’s existing efforts.
In a press release announcing the acquisition, Bilt also notes that this marks the start of a major expansion for the platform. Specifically, they point out that the platform is evolving from a housing rewards platform into a hub for several customer relationships that previously operated separately. After offering rewards on neighborhood experiences such as dining, Bilt says that sports and entertainment are a “natural next chapter.” Moreover, the company teases that it’ll share more about its expanding vision soon.
What They’re Saying:
Announcing this acquisition, Bilt founder and CEO Ankur Jain stated, “We started Bilt with the belief that where you live should connect you to the entire neighborhood around you. But some of the most powerful communities in America are built around something else entirely: the teams we love. Sports have an extraordinary ability to bring people together, yet the relationship between teams, fans, and their neighborhoods has barely been tapped. LAVA has built incredible technology connecting sports organizations with their fans.” Jain added, “Bringing that together with Bilt opens up an entirely new frontier for what membership and loyalty can mean.”
Meanwhile, LAVA co-founder Wen Miao said of the deal, “We’ve spent years building technology that helps leading sports and entertainment organizations recognize and engage their fans in real time, because that loyalty shouldn’t begin and end on game day. What makes Bilt so exciting is the opportunity to take that technology beyond individual venues and connect it to an entirely new network of neighborhood businesses and communities. Together, we have an opportunity to redefine how loyalty works, not just on game day, but throughout everyday life.”
My Thoughts:
This LAVA news follows last week’s announcement about what is effectively Bilt 3.0. That felt like big news — but this acquisition reinforces the fact that most of us (myself included) view Bilt through the wrong lens. While the credit card program is what we often put front and center, the platform has repeatedly shared that cardholders make up a small fraction of their member base.
Now, as Bilt lays out a bit more of its long-term vision, it’s clear to see that they are thinking way beyond a few rewards credit cards. Of course, whether or not they can reach this ultimate loyalty hub vision before the capital runs out remains to be seen. But one thing’s for sure: there’s certainly no shortage of big dreams among the Bilt team.
