Marqii Lands Series A Funding, Ramping Total Raised up to $10 Million

In an online world where consistent responses to customer feedback have a vital impact on a brand’s narrative, Marqii, a digital operations platform for the hospitality industry, continues to grow its guest engagement footprint among competitors, landing $4.5 million in Series A investment, bringing its total amount raised to $10 million. The capital financing round …

Toast built a $30 billion business by defying Silicon Valley and surviving a ‘suicide mission’

Toast’s first backer, Steve Papa, invested in the company because no venture capital firm would write the initial check. By the time Bessemer Venture Partners led the first institutional round in 2015, the company had millions in revenue, 170 employees and was deployed in thousands of restaurants. “We intentionally chose not to put reps in …

Uber’s Infamous Co-founder Wins Microsoft As First US Investor For His Dark Kitchen Startup

Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT) has become the first U.S.-based investor in Uber Technologies, Inc (NYSE: UBER), known to have backed CloudKitchens, the “dark kitchen” startup run by the ride-hailing company’s controversial co-founder Travis Kalanick, the Financial Times reports. The investment was part of CloudKitchens’ $850 million funding round that closed in November 2021, valuing it at $15 billion. The cash gain …

Tech Tracker: Kitchen United CEO gives details on massive cross-industry fundraising

Tech Tracker rounds up what’s happening in the technology sector of the restaurant industry, including news from restaurants, vendors, digital platforms, and third-party delivery companies. This month, our main story comes from an interview with Kitchen United CEO Michael Montagano, who gave some insight into the ghost kitchen company’s recent $100 million fundraising round, with …

Kitchen United CEO, CBO Detail Plans for $100M Investment

Kitchen United raised $100 million and announced plans to grow from 15 to 500 locations in the coming years, partly with Circle K, a partnership that could rival its work with Kroger. The Pasadena, California,-based ghost kitchen operator said it will also push into stadiums as part of its next phase. The funds, raised from …

High-Flying Lunchbox Lays Off a Third of its Staff

Lunchbox, one of the most prominent and outspoken tech companies in the delivery space, announced a significant round of layoffs just months after acquiring NovaDine and receiving $50 million through a Series B investment round. Company co-founder and CEO Nabeel Alamgir announced the layoffs in a post on LinkedIn, and said it was “an incredibly …

Branch Helps Restaurants, Delivery Fleets Adopt ‘Streaming’ Pay

If you’ve never been a delivery driver, gig worker or independent contractor, the idea of instant payments might not hit your radar, but waiting for cash has a huge impact on workers where the pay is inherently unpredictable. As the labor crunch persists, restaurants, retailers and some delivery providers are using new services to speed …

Sharebite Secures $39 Million for Its Corporate Client Food Ordering and Benefits Platform

With a tightening labor force, companies are increasingly looking to augment employee benefits and food is a leading choice for driving employee well-being and fostering high-performing cultures, especially for global companies and hybrid work models. Corporate client food ordering and benefits platform Sharebite has reportedly closed a $39 million Series B financing round to expand its footprint …

Marc Lore’s Wonder Raises Another $350M

Wonder, a truck-based restaurant delivery service started by Jet.com founder Marc Lore, raised an additional $350 million through a Series B funding round led by Bain Capital just six months after launching the company. This latest investment follows previous investment rounds totaling more than $500 million dollars. Various media reports pegged the New York-based company’s …

Bonfire Ventures Raises $230M Across Two New VC Funds

Bonfire Ventures, the Santa Monica early-stage venture capital firm that has backed local business-to-business (B2B) software startups like ChowNow and Boulevard, has raised $230 million across two new funds, it announced Tuesday. Bonfire raised $168 million for its third core fund and $63 million for its second opportunity fund—taking the firm to five total funds …