Blackbird Labs Launches Web3 Dining Pay

Blackbird Labs launched the Web3 platform for restaurant payments; Blackbird Pay was built on the company’s new blockchain network, Blackbird Flynet.

A Web3 payments platform for restaurants, Blackbird Pay, was launched by Blackbird Labs. This hospitality-tech startup was established by Resy and Eater co-founder Ben Leventhal, according to an announcement made on July 30.

The platform, which is based on Blackbird’s new blockchain network, Blackbird Flynet, offers restaurants a “new approach to addressing the ever-growing issue of shrinking margins and eroding cash reserves by providing them with their end-to-end payments and check settlement network,” as stated in the statement.

Blackbird Pay is intended to decrease the average transaction cost for restaurants to approximately 2% and reduce settlement periods. The statement also indicates that consumers can pay in FLY, Blackbird’s native token, issued as a reward on the platform. The current transaction fees for restaurants are as high as 4%.

Leventhal stated that restaurant technology has made “virtually no progress with payments, which tend to be expensive, cumbersome, and technologically opaque for most restaurants” in the past decade.

Blackbird Pay allows consumers at member restaurants to pay directly from the Blackbird app using credit or debit cards, FLY tokens, or US Dollar coins. Blackbird also stated that the app assigns a distinct Guest Value Score to each user, which member establishments can use as a foundation for custom points, benefits, and perks programs.

Web3 firms are expanding their presence in the dining sector, with potential applications encompassing gamification, rewards program management, and cost reduction. DevourGO, a Web3 food delivery service, is one of the current participants.

For the first time in history, the National Restaurant Association anticipates that US restaurant sales will surpass $1 trillion in 2024.

Roni Mazumdar, co-owner of Unapologetic Foods, stated that BlackBird and comparable services could allow restaurants to “save thousands of dollars per month in processing fees.”

Blackbird is also in the process of creating messaging and discovery applications for restaurants. According to the company, these applications, which include programs such as Blackbird Breakfast Club and Bar Blackbird, are intended to increase restaurant traffic during periods of low demand.

Andreessen Horowitz led a Series A venture funding round in which the company secured $24 million. Restaurants currently featured on Blackbird include Barbuto, Crown Shy, Momofuku, Nom Wah, and Saga in New York; Leon’s in Charleston; and Birdsong in San Francisco.