Bundle, a startup rethinking customer incentives, raised USD 5.5 million in a pre-seed funding round. It aims to build what it describes as a networked rewards platform.

 The round was led by Ethereal Ventures and Further. It also saw participation from Nascent, GSR, Scenius Capital, Anchorage Digital, and Nuwa Capital.

Why You Should Care

Customer acquisition is becoming more expensive while traditional incentives are becoming less effective. For many businesses, especially SMEs, offering discounts or cashback often erodes margins without delivering meaningful improvements in customer loyalty or conversion.

Bundle aims to change that by allowing businesses to pool their rewards budgets together. With this, it aims to offer customers access to prizes that would typically only be feasible for much larger companies.

The Details

Founded by Bader Al Kalooti and Mostafa Wanas, Bundle is a networked rewards platform. It enables brands to combine their incentive budgets into shared reward pools. 

Rather than relying on conventional discounting, Bundle enables brands to contribute to shared reward pools. Customers who engage with participating businesses gain the chance to win larger prizes, while brands spread the cost of funding those rewards across a wider network.

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

Bader Al Kalooti, Co-Founder & CEO of Bundle

The company believes that the opportunity to win a significant reward can motivate customer behavior more effectively than incremental discounts. Thus, allowing businesses to improve conversion rates without sacrificing as much margin.

The model has already been tested through a pilot program spanning five markets. During the trial, Bundle distributed USD 100,000 in rewards to more than 1,100 winners, including a top prize of USD 50,000.

Bundle is launching initially across Singapore, Vietnam, and the Philippines with more than 50 participating brands already on the platform.

The new funding will support the expansion of its rewards network into additional international markets while accelerating development of the platform.

The Ripple

Bundle is entering a growing market where businesses are searching for alternatives to increasingly costly customer acquisition strategies. As digital advertising becomes more expensive and consumers become less responsive to discounts, companies are exploring new ways to improve engagement without putting additional pressure on margins.

The model also reflects a broader trend toward collaborative commerce, where businesses share infrastructure and resources to compete more effectively against larger players.

What to Watch

Bundle’s next challenge will be proving that its network effect can scale across markets. As more brands join the platform, the value of its shared reward pools could increase, making the proposition more attractive to both businesses and consumers.

If the company can replicate its pilot results at scale, it could offer SMEs a new approach to customer acquisition that moves beyond the traditional discount-driven playbook.