The restaurant software-as-a-service (SaaS) startup Popmenu raised $65 million in a Series C funding round led by Tiger Global, according to a press release on Friday (June 11). Additional backers included new investor Salesforce Ventures and existing investors Bedrock Capital, Base10 Partners and Felicis Ventures.
The new infusion of capital is being earmarked by Popmenu to accelerate the development of its all-in-one solution, Popmenu Max. This latest tool was created using “patented menu technology” that taps artificial intelligence (AI) to help restaurants more efficiently “attract, engage, transact and re-market.”
Brendan Sweeney, CEO and co-founder of Popmenu, said that restaurant operators frequently have to juggle multiple platforms and subscriptions. Popmenu’s new product “removes the hassle and complexity from a restaurant’s tech stack,” he said, adding that Popmenu Max offers a way for restaurants to be proactive in how “high-tech or high-touch they want their customer experience to be.”
John Curtius, partner at Tiger Global Management, said that Popmenu’s “well-differentiated product” will resonate with restaurant customers. “We think we’re still in the early days of this global shift in restaurant tech, and we strongly believe the Popmenu team is best-positioned to capitalize on it,” he added.
The work from home (WFH) trend propelled by the pandemic has changed the way people consider meals. From the morning coffee to afternoon lunch to happy hour, the new normal post-pandemic is still being defined. For example, as the trend continues, specialty coffee chain Think Coffee introduced a Coffee-Break-At-Home program that enables employers to order coffee care packages for remote employees.
Restaurants have been struggling since COVID-19 took hold last year, and are now facing a new post-pandemic issue of finding workers. The National Restaurant Association trade group said restaurant and foodservice sales were $240 billion less than had been forecasted.