Share this article
Restaurant Industry Veteran Ben Leventhal Raises $11M for Web3 Startup Blackbird
Blackbird will offer a Web3 hospitality platform connecting restaurants with guests through membership and loyalty programs.
By Brandy Betz
Updated May 9, 2023, 3:58 a.m. Published Oct 6, 2022, 1:51 p.m.
Blackbird, a new Web3 hospitality platform, has raised $11 million in a seed funding round that was co-led by Union Square Ventures, Shine Capital and Multicoin Capital, a company representative confirmed to CoinDesk in an email.
The startup was founded by Ben Leventhal, who previously co-founded food publication Eater and online restaurant platform Resy, which was acquired by American Express (AXP) in 2019.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
The Blackbird platform will be a Web3-backed way for restaurants to connect with guests through loyalty and membership. An initial version of the product is expected to launch in the first half of 2023.
As part of the investment, Union Square Ventures partner Fred Wilson will join the Blackbird board. Other investors in the round included investment firm Variant, the venture-capital arm of USDC issuer Circle and digital product conglomerate IAC.
Venture-capital investments in the crypto industry were down 26% year-over-year in the first half of 2022 as the Ukrainian crisis, collapse of Terra’s stablecoin and bankruptcy filing of lender Celsius Network gave way to a bear market. The number of deal sizes remained stable, however, suggesting an influx of smaller deals.
Read more: Multicoin Capital Announces $430M Venture Fund for Crypto Startups
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
French Banking Giant BPCE to Roll Out Crypto Trading for 2M Retail Clients
The service will allow customers to buy and sell BTC, ETH, SOL, and USDC through a separate digital asset account managed by Hexarq.
What to know:
- French banking group BPCE will start offering crypto trading services to 2 million retail customers through its Banque Populaire and Caisse d’Épargne apps, with plans to expand to 12 million customers by 2026.
- The service will allow customers to buy and sell BTC, ETH, SOL, and USDC through a separate digital asset account managed by Hexarq, with a €2.99 monthly fee and 1.5% transaction commission.
- The move follows similar initiatives by other European banks, such as BBVA, Santander, and Raiffeisen Bank, which have already started offering crypto trading services to their customers.
Top Stories
