Belly, a rapidly-growing start-up that is effectively redefining customer loyalty for small businesses, announced today that it has received a $10 million Series B round of venture capital financing from Andreessen Horowitz. The new funds will be used to fuel development for the loyalty platform including expansion into new cities, new partnerships, and new product development. The company also announced that Jeff Jordan, general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, former chairman and CEO of OpenTable and former president of PayPal, will join the Board.
“The investment from Andreessen Horowitz is an endorsement of Belly’s highly tailored approach to building loyalty in an extremely competitive environment,” said Logan LaHive, Founder & CEO of Belly. “We’re eliminating over-stuffed wallets filled with unused punch cards. With Belly, customers have the option of accessing the Belly loyalty network via the mobile app or a physical card as they earn points toward meaningful rewards. By operating at the intersection of offline and online commerce, Belly is well-positioned to be the number one brand in loyalty.”
“Belly is the market leader in digitizing the loyalty programs of real world merchants,” said Jeff Jordan, general partner at Andreessen Horowitz and newly added member of Belly’s Board of Directors. “They are enabling merchants and customers to connect in radically more sophisticated ways, to the strong benefit of both.”
Belly is hyper-focused on creating the most engaging relationships between merchants and customers. The company partners with merchants to design and implement lasting rewards programs that reflect the personality and culture of each business and appeals to its customers. Belly users can achieve rewards they actually want and enjoy pursuing, including: Dog-A-Holic’s “Portrait Of You And Your Dog On Our Wall, Red 7 Salon’s “Shave Our Heads With A 1-On-1 Owner Buzz Cut” and Molly’s Cupcakes’ “Personal Dance Lesson From Staff Member.” Belly supplies merchants with the technology, analytics and training needed to build a loyalty program entirely customized for their business.
Launched in August 2011, Belly has over 200,000 active users who have checked in over 800,000 times. Belly currently partners with 1,400 merchants and adds 100+ new businesses each week. Starting today, Belly is available in New York and Boston, in addition to its existing roster of businesses in Chicago, Austin, Milwaukee, Madison, Washington D.C. and Phoenix.
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