• Swindon & Wiltshire M&A, deals
• Friday February 28 2025
• Author Name: Peter Davison

‘Remarkable turnaround’ as Bath loyalty tech start-up goes from near-collapse to eight-figure acquisition

A Bath loyalty tech start-up, which was twice close to collapse, has been bought in an eight-figure deal, making its founder a millionaire.

In what is being described as a ‘remarkable turnaround story’ Lux Rewards, which began life in a student business plan competition at the University of Bath, has been acquired by global software company Enigmatic Smile for an undisclosed eight-figure sum.

Lux Rewards partners with banks, airlines and employee benefit platforms to serve over 105 million cardholders across the world.

Founder James Courtney, from Bristol, was a 21 year-old business student at the University of Bath in 2015 when he came up with the idea to develop ‘the air miles of the restaurant world’, winning a student business plan competition and launching his dining reward app to connect customers with high-end restaurants.

James (pictured centre) spent six months of his undergraduate placement on his start-up, based at the University’s SET-Squared Bath Innovation Centre, taking full advantage of business mentoring and tapping into the city’s entrepreneurial networks.

“Bath and Bristol have been at the heart of Lux Rewards’ journey,” said James, who is now completing an Executive MBA at the University’s School of Management.

“The support from the local investor community, SETsquared, and the University of Bath was crucial in getting us here.

“This city is an incredible place to build a business, and I’m proud to say we’ve proven that a startup from Bath can take on the world.”

The company’s success has not been without its hurdles. James one ‘particularly painful moment’ when he spent £1,000 to put on an exclusive event at a wine bar, offering free wine and tapas in a bid to win over a major Bristol accounting firm.

“Only one person turned up,” he said. “It was the most embarrassing day of my life.”

By early 2020, James had resigned himself to the business failing. A 2020 Crowdcube raise provided crucial funding, but Covid-19 hit just as the round closed.

With restaurants closed and the business burning over £25,000 per month, Courtney, with his team on furlough, moved back home to his family home in Bristol, assuming it was the end.

But over lockdown, Courtney rethought his strategy and decided to pivot away from direct consumer downloads, to work in partnership with businesses and their customer bases.

By 2021 this had paid off and Lux Rewards signed a major deal with Barclaycard, expanding from 1,000 users to over 400,000 overnight.

British Airways and Mastercard soon followed, expanding their offers across the global loyalty market. Today, Lux Rewards reaches over 105 million cardholders worldwide and has achieved 4x year-on-year revenue growth.

Siobain Hone, Bath University’s graduate enterprise manager, who was behind James’ student enterprise experience, said: “I am absolutely delighted to see James sell the business he started whilst he was an undergraduate – if anyone was going to make a success of things it was always going to be him.

“Supporting him through our student enterprise programme and watching him making the most of every opportunity, we knew James was going to make his idea work.

“I’m proud to have been a small part of that journey and he has been a fantastic ambassador for Enterprise Bath and a real pleasure to work with. I can’t wait to see what he does next and this time I’m going to invest!”

Becky Gallagher, head of MBA recruitment and admissions, added: “We are really proud to have welcomed James back to the School of Management as an executive MBA student and to play a part in developing his future business endeavours.

“The Bath MBA is an opportunity for students to learn from leading experts as well as each other, and James’ entrepreneurial successes are a real asset.”

James and his co-founders Tom Munday (pictured left) and Ash Dey (right) are now focused on growing Lux Rewards under Enigmatic Smile, but are not ruling out future ventures together.

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