Capital One Acquires Bundle, A Data-Driven Local Business Directory

Capital One has acquired the New York-based Bundle Corporation, which first launched back in 2010 as an online tool allowing users to compare their spending habits with others like them. The company aimed to serve as an alternative to local review websites like Yelp by instead offering rankings based on where people actually spent their money, as sourced from anonymous, aggregated consumer spending data.

As of last fall, Bundle had access to around 20 million Visa and MasterCards from Citi and other third-party providers, as well as public data from the U.S. Government. In January of this year, Bundle launched nationwide and introduced an iPhone application to provide users with nearby recommendations.

Bundle’s idea was that spending data is a better indicator of a user’s true preference, and could better highlight the top local businesses. You may give a restaurant a five-star review, for example, but only eat there on occasion. Bundle could discover those businesses you actually frequent. On the company’s website, users could look up local businesses in categories including nightlife, spa and beauty, shopping, and more, in addition to restaurants. Businesses were rated with a “Bundle Score,” which combined metrics for popularity, customer loyalty and price, among other things.

According to Capital One, while terms of the deal are not being disclosed, it has “acquired substantially” all of Bundle’s assets. In addition, Bundle’s CEO Jaidev Shergill, and eleven other team members will join now Capital One supporting Capital One’s Digital Labs. The startup founder and staff will remain in New York City. Capital One’s Labs already has teams in San Francisco and Northern Virginia, the company notes.

Capital One plans to use Bundle’s aggregated spending and local directory data to deliver new data-powered products to its own customers, but the company did not go into detail about what those forthcoming products may be.

This is not the first acquisition for Capital One’s Digital Labs – in May 2012, it also acquired San Francisco-based BankOns, an early stage mobile startup which rewarded customers with deals and discounts based on their spending behavior.

Bundle had an undisclosed amount of funding from strategic investors Citigroup, Microsoft, and Morningstar.