Bilt Acquires LAVA in $300 Million Sports Technology Deal
BILT
Bilt, the New York-based neighborhood commerce and rewards platform founded by Ankur Jain, has announced its acquisition of LAVA in a transaction valued at $300 million. The deal brings technology serving 56 professional sports franchises into Bilt's
Bilt is entering the professional sports loyalty market through its $300 million acquisition of LAVA, a technology company serving 56 franchises across major American sports leagues. The transaction connects Bilt's residential rewards network, which includes more than seven million members and 50,000 merchant partners, with technology used to manage fan engagement, memberships and personalized offers. LAVA's platform integrates with ticketing, payment and customer management systems, allowing sports organizations to provide benefits beyond stadium experiences. Bilt plans to incorporate these capabilities into its neighborhood commerce platform, potentially connecting team loyalty programs with restaurants, retailers and other businesses in surrounding communities.
Bilt Acquires Sports Loyalty Technology Leader LAVA in $300 Million Deal, Signaling Major Expansion Beyond Housing
Acquisition brings relationships with 56 professional sports franchises and more than 300 technology adapters into Bilt’s growing neighborhood commerce network, laying the foundation for a new era of connected fan experiences and loyalty
Bilt, the neighborhood commerce and rewards platform, today announced its acquisition of LAVA, a leading technology platform powering real-time loyalty, membership, and customer experiences for major sports and entertainment organizations, in a transaction valued at $300 million.
The acquisition brings LAVA’s technology and relationships with 56 professional sports franchises across the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and MLS, including the Detroit Lions, Denver Nuggets, Carolina Hurricanes, and LAFC, into Bilt’s rapidly expanding neighborhood commerce ecosystem.
The deal marks a significant step in Bilt’s expansion beyond housing, bringing together two powerful networks: Bilt’s growing ecosystem of residential communities and neighborhood businesses, and LAVA’s technology connecting sports teams, venues, and their fans. At the center of the strategy is a simple idea: some of the strongest communities in America aren’t defined just by where people live, but by the teams they love.
Bringing Together Two Powerful Platforms
Bilt has built one of the country’s largest neighborhood commerce networks, connecting more than 7 million members across residential communities with more than 50,000 merchant partners.
LAVA brings sophisticated technology that enables sports teams and entertainment venues to recognize customers, deliver personalized benefits, manage loyalty programs, and execute real-time experiences across existing systems.
The platform includes more than 300 technology adapters spanning point-of-sale, identity, loyalty, ticketing, payments, and other business systems, enabling organizations to connect their existing infrastructure rather than replace it.
“We started Bilt with the belief that where you live should connect you to the entire neighborhood around you,” said Ankur Jain, Founder and CEO of Bilt. “But some of the most powerful communities in America are built around something else entirely: the teams we love. Sports have an extraordinary ability to bring people together, yet the relationship between teams, fans, and their neighborhoods has barely been tapped. LAVA has built incredible technology connecting sports organizations with their fans. Bringing that together with Bilt opens up an entirely new frontier for what membership and loyalty can mean.”
Building the Infrastructure for the Next Generation of Neighborhood Commerce
Beyond its sports and entertainment relationships, LAVA brings real-time loyalty, identity, stored-value, and customer engagement technology that will strengthen Bilt’s ability to connect the home and neighborhood.
LAVA also brings its Realtime AI™ technology, which will build on Bilt’s existing AI capabilities. Bilt plans to combine its AI agents with LAVA’s real-time engagement technology to help coordinate personalized benefits and offers across businesses, drawing on the data and integrations both companies already operate.
“We’ve spent years building technology that helps leading sports and entertainment organizations recognize and engage their fans in real time, because that loyalty shouldn’t begin and end on game day,” said Wen Miao, Co-founder of LAVA.ai. “What makes Bilt so exciting is the opportunity to take that technology beyond individual venues and connect it to an entirely new network of neighborhood businesses and communities. Together, we have an opportunity to redefine how loyalty works, not just on game day, but throughout everyday life.”
A Larger Vision for Bilt
The acquisition reflects Bilt’s broader evolution from a housing rewards platform into a technology and commerce network connecting the places, businesses, and communities that shape everyday life.
With millions of members, a growing network of neighborhood merchants, and technology increasingly embedded in the places people live, Bilt is building a platform designed to connect previously separate customer relationships into a more rewarding neighborhood experience.
Adding LAVA’s technology and team is intended to strengthen the AI and real-time data layer that supports that platform, with capabilities expected to be integrated into Bilt over time. Sports and entertainment represent a natural next chapter, bringing some of the most passionate communities in the country into that vision.
“Teams have built extraordinary loyalty, and Bilt brings the network to make that loyalty valuable across everyday life,” said Vivek Ranadivé, Founder and Chairman of LAVA and Owner and CEO of the Sacramento Kings. “LAVA joining Bilt will help our partners turn sports fandom into a neighborhood economy that works for fans, teams, and local businesses every day. Together, we can make the entire neighborhood part of the fan experience.”
“The stadium may be where the game happens, but the neighborhood is where fandom lives,” added Jain. “We think that’s an incredibly powerful place to start.”
Bilt expects to share more about its expanding vision for neighborhood commerce and connected membership experiences soon.
Source: BILT
