Belly (loyalty program)

Belly was founded in August 2011 in Chicago by Logan LaHive and Craig Ulliott, receiving its initial round of around $3M in funding from Chicago-based venture capital firm Lightbank.[1]

Belly
Type of businessPrivate
Available inEnglish
Headquarters
Chicago, Illinois
,
United States
Founder(s)Logan LaHive, Craig Ulliott[1]
URLwww.bellycard.com
LaunchedAugust 2011[1]
Current statusActive
Native client(s) oniOS, Android

Belly provides a loyalty program for merchants, using an in-store iPad for the merchant and an app for customers. It charges merchants $50 to $100 a month for the service, which includes an iPad, a case and lock for the iPad, marketing materials, plus data and analytics.[2] Customers earn loyalty points by checking in at the store with a QR code technology to earn points that could be redeemed as a merchant chose.[2]

History

By May 2012, Belly had signed up around 1,400 merchants and was available in Chicago, Austin, Milwaukee, Madison, Wis., Washington D.C., Phoenix, New York and Boston, and had around 200,000 active users.[1] At that time it received an additional $10M in funding from Andreessen Horowitz and Silicon Valley Bank.[1]

In September 2012, Belly was included as a launch partner in Apple Wallet.[3] By September 2013, Belly was integrated into Google Wallet.[4]

In August 2013, Belly received a Series B-1 round of funding of $12.1M led by New Enterprise Associates, Andreessen Horowitz, DAG Ventures, Lightbank, Cisco Systems, and 7-Ventures, a subsidiary of 7-Eleven.[5]

In June 2014, Belly announced international expansion, starting in Canada.[6]

In August 2014, 7-Eleven rolled out the Belly rewards program in 2,600 locations.[7] However, 7-Eleven discontinued the Belly program on November 30, 2016,[8]

In November 2016, Logan LaHive stepped down as CEO of Belly and was succeeded by COO Dan Gloede.[9]

In November 2018, the Belly product line assets were acquired from Hatch Loyalty by Mobivity Holdings Corp.[10]

References
  1. Lenna Rao, Customer Loyalty And Rewards Platform For Local Businesses Belly Raises $10M From Andreessen Horowitz. TechCrunch. May 8, 2012.
  2. Tricia Duryee, Four Reasons Why Andreessen Horowitz Is Investing $10 Million in Belly. AllThingsD, May 8, 2012
  3. Apple Magazine. September 20, 2012. IOS 6 Passbook App: The Mobile Wallet
  4. Stephanie Mlot for PC Magazine. Sept 17, 2013. Google Wallet Update Includes Loyalty Cards
  5. Alice Truong, "Belly Raises $12.1 Million To Replace Loyalty Cards With Its App", August 28, 2012, "http://www.fastcompany.com/3016461/fast-feed/belly-raises-121-million-to-replace-loyalty-cards-with-its-app"
  6. Barba, Ronald (30 June 2014). "Loyalty Rewards Company Belly Announces International Expansion into Canada". TechCO.
  7. Wong, Wailin (25 April 2013). "McDonald's, 7-Eleven, others add Belly loyalty platform". Chicago Tribune.
  8. Marotti, Ally. "7-Eleven to drop Belly iPad loyalty program". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2016-12-08.
  9. Elahi, Amina. "Belly CEO Logan LaHive steps down". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2016-11-28.
  10. "Mobivity Buys Digital Loyalty Solution".

Further reading
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