Belly

Based in Chicago, Illinois, Belly provided a digital loyalty and marketing platform that equipped small and medium-sized businesses with in-store iPad kiosks for customer check-ins and customizable rewards. Operating on a business-to-business subscription model that charged merchants a monthly fee for hardware and analytics, the company scaled its operations to reach a peak of more than 8,000 merchant locations and 6 million active consumer members. To support this growth, the enterprise raised approximately $28 million in total venture funding from prominent institutional backers including Andreessen Horowitz, Lightbank, and New Enterprise Associates. After securing enterprise partnerships with major retail brands such as 7-Eleven and reaching a peak headcount of 105 employees, the company's product line assets were eventually acquired by Mobivity Holdings Corp in 2018. Belly was originally founded in 2011 by Logan LaHive and Craig Ulliott.

Belly is a Chicago‑founded customer‑loyalty company (later rebranded as Hatch Loyalty for parts of the business) that built a tablet‑driven rewards platform for local merchants and brands; its core product and assets were acquired in 2018 by Mobivity Holdings Corp.[1][3]

High‑Level Overview

Belly built a merchant‑facing loyalty and marketing platform that used an in‑store iPad and a consumer mobile app (or card) to track visits, issue points and enable customizable rewards for small and mid‑sized merchants and multi‑location partners; merchants paid a monthly fee for the iPad hardware, software, analytics and marketing materials[1][3]. Belly’s product targeted independent retailers, restaurants and later larger retail partners (for example, a 7‑Eleven roll‑out in 2014), aiming to increase repeat visits and customer engagement for merchants while giving consumers an easy digital rewards experience[1][3]. By 2018 key Belly product assets were sold to Mobivity, and parts of the business had been operated under the Hatch Loyalty name before that transition[1][4].

Origin Story

Belly was founded in August 2011 in Chicago by Logan LaHive and Craig Ulliott, with initial funding from Lightbank and later investment rounds that included Andreessen Horowitz and other backers[1][3]. The idea grew from the opportunity to give independent merchants an affordable, brandable digital loyalty system (an iPad at register plus a consumer app or card) that provided data/analytics and customizable rewards to drive retention; early traction included hundreds of merchants and rapid user sign‑ups across U.S. cities in the first year and a series of expansion and partnership moves through 2014, including a large-scale 7‑Eleven deployment (later discontinued by 7‑Eleven in 2016)[1][3]. Leadership evolved over time—founder Logan LaHive stepped down as CEO in November 2016 and the company’s product assets were sold in 2018 to Mobivity Holdings Corp.[1]

Core Differentiators

• Hardware + software package: Delivered a turnkey merchant solution that included an in‑store iPad, case/lock, and point‑tracking UI together with a consumer app—lowering merchant friction to adopt digital loyalty[1][3].
  - Merchant customization: Allowed merchants to set their own rewards and tailor the program to local customer behavior rather than forcing a one‑size‑fits‑all rewards structure[1][3].
  - Data & marketing bundle: Sold as a subscription with analytics and marketing materials (email/point campaigns), positioning Belly as both loyalty and local marketing tool for small businesses[1][3].
  - Channel partnerships: Demonstrated ability to scale via partner roll‑outs (e.g., national convenience‑store testing with 7‑Eleven in 2014), showing the platform could serve single shops and larger rollouts[1].
  - Brand evolution / consolidation: The business was rebranded/operated as Hatch Loyalty in later stages and ultimately saw product asset acquisition by Mobivity, indicating technology value recognized by larger loyalty/marketing players[4][1].

Role in the Broader Tech Landscape

• Trend alignment: Belly rode the broader shift from punch‑cards to digital, data‑driven loyalty systems that give small merchants enterprise‑style retention tools (mobile apps, check‑in QR flows, analytics) without heavy engineering investment[1][3].
  - Timing: Launched when tablets and smartphones were becoming ubiquitous in retail and when merchants began demanding measurable, digital customer‑retention solutions—making its iPad + app approach commercially sensible in the 2011–2016 window[1][3].
  - Market forces: Increased competition from POS vendors and integrated loyalty providers, plus the economics of national rollouts, pressured pure SMB‑focused loyalty vendors; that competitive and consolidation pressure helps explain later rebranding and asset sale activity[1][4].
  - Ecosystem influence: Helped normalize merchant adoption of tablet‑based loyalty and showed how local merchants could leverage digital rewards and customer data; its funding and partnership trajectory (Lightbank, a16z, etc.) also signaled investor interest in SMB martech and loyalty startups[1][3].

Quick Take & Future Outlook

Belly’s core product proved the market opportunity for turnkey digital loyalty aimed at independent merchants—but the company’s later leadership changes, rebranding to Hatch Loyalty for parts of the business, and sale of product assets to Mobivity in 2018 indicate the space favors consolidation and integration with larger customer‑engagement platforms rather than many standalone SMB loyalty vendors[1][4]. Going forward, successful loyalty tools for this market will likely be those embedded into POS/payment stacks or offered by larger omnichannel marketing platforms that can provide richer data, omnichannel redemption, and tighter economics for merchants; legacy players like Belly that created the early merchant tablet model have either been acquired or evolved to fit into those broader stacks[1][4]. Revisit the current parent acquirer (Mobivity) or Hatch Loyalty for the most up‑to‑date product availability and roadmap if you’re evaluating the offering for merchant use or partnership[1][4].

If you want, I can:

• Pull a concise timeline of Belly’s funding, partnerships and key milestones.
  - Compare Belly’s original offering to current SMB loyalty options (POS‑embedded vs. standalone).