loyalBe raises $1m to expand in Ireland

Belfast-based fintech company loyalBe has secured $1 million following a funding round led by capital fund manager Techstart Ventures.

The equity funding has come from several angel investors and investment group Co-Fund NI.

The loyalBe platform specialises in improving customer engagement between retailers and their top customers by replacing outdated loyalty tools with a mobile app to help them engage with customers. 

The company plans to use the funds to expand into the Irish market with its bank-linked loyalty solution. 

Cormac Quinn, loyalBe founder and chief executive officer, said: “We intend to use the funds to build partnerships and upscale our marketing efforts within Ireland. We have recently partnered with Visa to expand into the Irish market and this investment will allow us to accelerate our rollout of the app to local businesses.”

loyalBe aims to provide independent businesses with a data-driven loyalty solution that will allow them to compete against multinational brands with larger resources.

“It is extremely important to rally behind local businesses,” Quinn said.

“With loyalBe, we are encouraging customers to shop local and invest in the local economy. Our app helps businesses to create and engage with more loyal customers to drive repeat sales and we’re delighted to be supporting many local businesses already.” 

The company said that the past year, clouded by the coronavirus pandemic, has emphasised the importance of supporting local businesses to sustain local economies and protect jobs.

He added: “loyalBe is growing extremely quickly, and we are looking forward to onboarding many more businesses and customers to the app in the coming months.” 

The loyalBe app uses Open Banking technology, allowing customers to automatically earn rewards simply by paying with their bank card.

Transactional data can be used to accurately attribute customer spend which removes the need for any point-of-sale integrations or equipment in-store.