Bilt Rewards Nets $3.1B Valuation As Roger Goodell, Ken Chenault Join Board

Bilt Rewards, a New York-based startup that uses a loyalty platform where users earn points on rent payments, has doubled its valuation to $3.1 billion.

The New York Post reported NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and businessman Kenneth Chenault have become board members for Bilt Rewards. The startup netted a whopping $200 million during its latest funding round. Bilt Rewards is led by former Tinder executive Ankur Jain.

Bilt makes its revenue by partnering with rental firms, processing their payments, and taking a cut of customer spending. Bilt has also partnered with Mastercard, allowing customers to rack up points on transactions.

Other investors in the latest funding round included Eldridge, Left Lane Capital, Camber Creek, Prosus Ventures, and General Catalyst.

Chenault, a Morehouse graduate who served as the CEO and Chairman of American Express from 2001 through 2018, helping pioneer rewards programs at the credit card giant, is joining the startup as its chairman of the board. Goodell, meanwhile, will join Bilt as an independent director.

“There’s nobody in the world who understands this type of rewards platform, candidly, better than Ken,” Jain told The Post. “He built it with local merchants back in the day, and now we get to create a version that is focused really on neighborhood and local because of our platform with the apartment buildings.”

Jain added that Godell could provide expert advice on how Bilt can effectively tap “neighborhood pride and loyalty” while expanding its rewards program to local communities.

The startup will use the funds from its latest funding round to expand its “Neighborhood Rewards” program, which allows users to earn points and additional benefits through transactions at local businesses.

Bilt plans to expand its service to include restaurants, grocery stores, gas stations, pharmacies, and more and is mulling a further expansion into single-family and condo housing as well as an entry into the mortgage market by the end of 2024

Less than two years after its debut, Bilt has a presence in all 50 states, has partnered with hundreds of housing firms, and is a profitable business with nearly $20 billion in annual spending.