Bundle Raises US$5.5M Pre-Seed to Launch World's First Networked Rewards Platform

Bader Al Kalooti and Mostafa Wanas, Bundle co-founders

For decades, brands have relied on discounts, cashback, and loyalty points to attract and retain customers. Yet rising customer acquisition costs (CAC), declining conversion rates, and shrinking profit margins have made traditional incentives increasingly ineffective.

Bundle believes the rewards industry requires a fundamentally different model.

The startup has launched what it describes as the world's first networked rewards platform, allowing businesses to pool their marketing incentive budgets into a shared rewards ecosystem instead of running isolated loyalty campaigns.

The approach enables small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to offer customers significantly larger rewards than they could independently finance, helping them compete with larger brands without sacrificing margins.

"Bundle was built to level that playing field. We believe every business, regardless of size, should be able to offer rewards that genuinely excite customers rather than relying on discounting, which is a race to the bottom."

— Bader Al Kalooti, Co-Founder & CEO

Why Are Traditional Loyalty Programs Becoming Less Effective?

Businesses worldwide continue to spend billions annually on promotional incentives, yet many campaigns deliver diminishing returns.

Several industry trends are contributing to this shift:

• Customer acquisition costs continue to rise across digital channels.
• Consumers increasingly ignore small cashback offers and discounts.
• Traditional loyalty programmes often require significant marketing budgets.
• SMEs struggle to compete with enterprise-scale customer rewards.

Bundle addresses this gap by transforming isolated reward budgets into a collaborative network where every participating business contributes to larger prize pools.

How Does Bundle's Networked Rewards Platform Work?

Instead of each business offering its own standalone promotion, Bundle connects participating brands into one shared ecosystem.

Customers earn Bundle tickets by completing eligible actions, including:

• Making purchases
• Referring friends
• Completing promotional activities
• Participating in partner campaigns

These tickets enter users into shared reward pools funded collectively by participating businesses.

How Bundle Benefits Businesses and Consumers

Feature	For Businesses	For Consumers
Shared reward pools	Larger campaigns without increasing budgets	Bigger prizes than traditional cashback
Marketing performance	Higher conversion potential	More engaging rewards experience
Operations	Single regulatory and rewards infrastructure	Simple user experience
Global payouts	Cross-border campaign capability	Fast withdrawals through licensed payment providers

Bundle also manages compliance requirements and promotional infrastructure, allowing brands to launch campaigns across multiple jurisdictions using a single regulated platform.

How Does Bundle Use Blockchain Without Complicating the User Experience?

Although customers interact with a familiar Web2 interface, Bundle's rewards infrastructure is powered by Web3 payment rails.

Rewards are distributed using stablecoin payment infrastructure, enabling:

• Low-cost global transfers
• Faster settlement
• Cross-border payouts
• Withdrawals through licensed payment service providers (PSPs)

Importantly, blockchain remains largely invisible to users, reducing friction while leveraging digital asset infrastructure behind the scenes.

This reflects a broader trend where blockchain adoption increasingly focuses on practical consumer applications rather than speculative assets.

What Results Has Bundle Achieved So Far?

Bundle's pilot programme has already demonstrated promising commercial traction.

Metric	Result
Pilot markets	5
Participating companies	5
Winners rewarded	1,100+
Total rewards distributed	US$100,000
Largest individual reward	US$50,000
Campaign conversion improvement	Up to 4×

According to the company, participating brands achieved conversion uplifts of up to four times compared with conventional promotional campaigns.

Why Did Investors Back Bundle?

Bundle recently closed a US$5.5 million pre-seed funding round to accelerate product development and international expansion.

The investment was led by:

• Ethereal Ventures, founded by Ethereum co-founder Joe Lubin
• Further Ventures
• Participation from Nascent
• GSR
• Scenius Capital
• Anchorage Digital
• Nuwa Capital

The funding will support:

• Product development
• Strategic partnerships
• Market expansion across Asia
• Continued platform development

"The next wave of blockchain businesses like Bundle will drive mainstream consumer applications by feeling native to users and solving real problems."

— Min Teo, Managing Partner, Ethereal Ventures

Further Ventures also highlighted Bundle's ability to increase marketing efficiency by allowing businesses of all sizes to access substantially larger rewards while lowering customer acquisition costs.

Which Markets Will Bundle Expand Into First?

Bundle plans to launch initially in:

• Singapore
• Vietnam
• Philippines

The company says more than 50 founding brands have already joined the platform ahead of launch.

Its compliance-first operating model is designed to simplify expansion into additional international markets while supporting brands that operate across multiple jurisdictions.

Why Does Bundle Matter for the Future of Customer Engagement?

Bundle reflects a growing shift away from traditional loyalty programmes toward collaborative customer acquisition models.

Rather than competing independently through increasingly expensive discounts, participating brands share resources to create higher-value rewards that generate stronger engagement.

The company's approach also demonstrates how blockchain infrastructure can deliver practical business value without requiring consumers to understand or interact with cryptocurrency directly.

As digital commerce continues to evolve across Asia and the Middle East, Bundle's networked rewards model could provide SMEs with a scalable alternative to conventional promotional strategies.

For the Middle East ecosystem, Bundle's funding also reinforces the region's growing role in fintech and Web3 innovation. Investors such as Further Ventures, headquartered in Abu Dhabi, alongside the emirate's digital asset ecosystem led by ADGM (Abu Dhabi Global Market), continue to back blockchain infrastructure targeting mainstream enterprise adoption. This trend complements the UAE's broader push to become a global hub for fintech, digital assets, and next-generation payment infrastructure.

 

 

FAQs

1. What is Bundle's networked rewards platform?
Bundle is a customer rewards platform that enables businesses to combine their marketing incentive budgets into shared reward pools, allowing brands of all sizes to offer larger prizes while improving customer acquisition and retention.

2. How does Bundle use blockchain technology?
Bundle uses Web3 infrastructure behind the scenes by distributing rewards through stablecoin payment rails and licensed payment service providers. Consumers experience a traditional Web2 interface without needing blockchain knowledge.

3. How much funding has Bundle raised?
Bundle raised US$5.5 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Ethereal Ventures and Further Ventures, with participation from Nascent, GSR, Scenius Capital, Anchorage Digital, and Nuwa Capital.

4. Which countries will Bundle launch in first?
Bundle plans its initial rollout across Singapore, Vietnam, and the Philippines, where more than 50 founding brands have already joined the platform.

5. What results has Bundle achieved during its pilot?
Bundle's pilot spanned five markets and five companies, rewarding over 1,100 winners, distributing US$100,000 in prizes, and helping participating brands achieve up to 4× higher conversion rates than traditional promotional campaigns.