Bilt acquires sports loyalty platform LAVA in a $300M deal

Bilt has acquired LAVA in a deal valued at $300 million. LAVA provides real-time loyalty, membership and customer experience technology for sports and entertainment organisations. It works with 56 professional franchises across the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL and MLS, including the Detroit Lions and the Denver Nuggets.

Bilt is best known for letting people earn rewards on rent. It has more than 7 million members and over 50,000 merchant partners.

Bilt plans to combine its AI agents with LAVA's technology to coordinate personalised benefits and offers across businesses, so that fan loyalty extends into the neighbourhood around the stadium. Founder and CEO Ankur Jain said the stadium may be where the game happens, but the neighbourhood is where fandom lives. The page does not say when the deal closes or how quickly LAVA's technology will be integrated.