21 Jan 2024

Meet Bilt Rewards, a loyalty programme allowing renters to build a path towards home ownership

Bilt Rewards is allowing renters to start earning rewards each time they pay rent and build a path towards homeownership

  • Headquarters: New York, U.S.
  • Founder: Ankur Jain
  • Industry: Fintech – loyalty program and credit card
  • Bilt Rewards website

Bilt Rewards is the first major loyalty program that allows renters to earn rewards from paying rent and build a path towards homeownership. The loyalty program was developed in partnership with an alliance of the United States’ largest multifamily owner/operators, representing over 4 million units across the US. Bilt has partnered with Mastercard and Wells Fargo to issue the Bilt Mastercard - the first and only credit card that can be used to pay rent at any apartment with no fees. Bilt has also and recently launched Bilt Homes, a new home-buying service that takes a member's monthly rent payment and instantly shows them homes they can own for an equal monthly mortgage payment.

More on Bilt Rewards:

Addressing a significant market opportunity: There are up to 115M renters currently in the US with a continued demand for rental properties.[1] Bilt Rewards is uniquely positioned in the market as the only company that offers renters a way to gain incremental value in return for paying rent and a clearer path towards homeownership. Since it was founded in 2021, Bilt Rewards has already processed over $20 billion in annualized rent payments and achieved EBITDA profitability in 2023.

Established strong brand partnerships: Over the last year, Bilt Rewards has leveraged its first mover advantage to establish strong product partnerships with Wells Fargo, Mastercard, and Expedia, and has created an alliance of the nation’s largest real estate owners, including Blackstone, Related Companies, Related Group, Equity Residential, and AvalonBay Communities, Inc. It has cemented partnerships for its loyalty program with over 100 major airlines and hotels, the country's top boutique fitness studios, and Amazon.Bilt Rewards boasts one of the top loyalty programs on the market today and was recently named the most valuable rewards card of 2023 by BankRate.

Founder with a strong track-record: Bilt Rewards was founded by Ankur Jain (CEO), a serial entrepreneur with an excellent track record. Ankur is also the founder and CEO of Kairos, a venture fund that has helped launch and grow over $6.5bn worth of companies tackling problems in healthcare, housing costs and transportation networks. He was previously the founder and CEO of technology company, Humin, which was acquired by Tinder in 2016.

The press releases for the full investments we made can be found here and here.