Influencers are swiping a new black card at restaurants, spas, and fitness studios

Max Van Kuyk is the cofounder of OTH Network.

There’s a hot new card influencers are swiping at restaurants and retailers to redeem products and services.

The card is offered by OTH (“on the house”) Network, an influencer-focused fintech platform that uses artificial intelligence to monitor content created for brands and match creators with marketing deals. Influencers use the OTH Network app to gather offers from local businesses. Then, after creating sponsored content, they can spend the payment added to their account in person at the business.

The closed platform has a waiting list, which influencers must apply for by filling out questions like follower count, content category, and location. Once accepted, the creator will receive a black and gold card (like a loyalty card) to use in person to redeem products and services.

For example, Sushi Bar in Miami, Flowrbombr Skincare in Los Angeles, and Footnanny Nail Spa in Beverly Hills have all partnered with OTH for influencer campaigns.

Cofounders Maximiliaan Van Kuyk and Ketan Rahangdale started the company in 2020 and, in September, raised VC funding from Innovate Ventures, according to Pitchbook.

In some ways, OTH is part of a familiar practice in the influencer world: gifting. Brands will often send influencers free products or services with the hope or expectation that they will post about it on social media. But OTH is putting a new twist on this practice by looking to streamline the process using an AI-powered app and giving it an exclusive feel with a physical card.

“We see influencers opening up like 10 packages a day and putting it on social,” Van Kuyk said, referring to traditional influencer gifting practices. “But it’s super inorganic.”

Van Kuyk told B-17 that the platform currently has over 3,000 creators and over 90,000 global creator applications. In the US, it’s available to creators in cities including Miami, LA, Chicago, Las Vegas, and New York, with plans to expand. The company started in hospitality and then expanded into wellness, beauty, and fashion.

“We are being extremely diligent on only letting in the top creators in cities we are operating in,” Van Kuyk said.

Influencers who use the platform include Roz Model (15 million Instagram followers), Montana Tucker (3.2 million Instagram followers), Kat Graham (9.7 million Instagram followers), and Matt Staffanina (3.7 million Instagram followers).

Creators must have at least 10,000 Instagram followers to be considered, and for now, OTH rarely accepts creators under 100,000 followers, Van Kuyk said. But he added that the platform plans to expand into micro influencer categories.

“We have made some exceptions to that, just because some merchants enjoy that, but for the most part that’s where we’ve been focusing,” he said. “We 100% acknowledge that space and we will be moving into that space over time. Maybe we will release a micro influencer strategy product that will be a little bit separate and have different rules around it. But, as a startup, we have to stay focused on what our strengths are.”

How OTH Network structures its partnerships

Typically, influencers on the platform are asked to create two pieces of content, like an Instagram story or reel, or TikTok, that features themselves and the restaurant or product. They upload the content to the OTH app, and the platform’s AI technology checks the quality of the content.

Once the content is approved, the influencer can post it, and the business can then use that content on their own marketing channels.

Van Kuyk said the platform makes money by charging the merchants, but declined to expand on its business model and fee structure.

Using AI and other third-party systems, OTH checks its applicants for bots, fake followers, and overall engagement. Brands care about a creator’s audience, brand safety, and if the creator fits the right aesthetic, Van Kuyk said.

Once accepted, the influencer is asked to jump on a call, which is part of an interview process with the company’s creator team.

OTH is not partnered with a bank. Instead, the card works more like a reimbursement or loyalty card, and each business uses the app to tap the card and redeem the influencer’s credit.

“That is a direction that we’re planning on going in, to actually have that be a real Visa or Mastercard that the influencers are banking with,” Van Kuyk said. “We have a serious tech team in-house that is constantly building and upgrading these things. It’s not just an agency with an app in front of it.”