Ordermark, which provides online ordering solutions for restaurants, announced the close of a Series C funding round with $120 million, according to a press release.
With the new funding, Ordermark plans to help more restaurants transition to online ordering amid the pandemic and for the future. Ordermark's technology involves consolidating mobile orders across various online services and sending them to a single printer, which helps put in place omnichannel ordering and delivery.
“2020 has been a tough year for restaurants and that’s why we’re focused on providing products and services to help keep their doors open,” said Alex Canter, Ordermark CEO and co-founder, in the release. “With 92 percent of restaurant traffic now off-premise, this funding gives us the opportunity to provide more restaurants with innovative ways to reach more consumers. The restaurant industry is in the midst of the eCommerce phase, where restaurants must get creative by embracing technology and new sources of revenue generation to reach customers outside of their four walls.”
The round was led by SoftBank Vision Fund II and also featured participation from Act One Ventures.
Ordermark, which was founded in 2017, also operates Nextbite, a pioneer in the virtual restaurant space letting brick-and-mortar stores offer delivery-only brands, including Wiz Khalifa's HotBox by Wiz, out of their existing spaces.
The trend of ghost kitchens and virtual restaurants has been referred to as the third wave of delivery, the release stated, with virtual brands helping independent restaurants diversify.
Ghost kitchens might be headed for a new path now that the pandemic lockdowns have eased around the world and restaurants have begun reopening, PYMNTS reported, with some analysts predicting that the hype might die down. One of the premiere examples is ex-Uber head Travis Kalanick's CloudKitchens, which faced pressure over struggles with real estate bought up to launch the kitchens.
