Launched in 2017, the restaurant technology platform backed by celebrity chef Marco Pierre White has completed a hefty Series A raise as it eyes a UK expansion.
Key Takeaways
- Australian restaurant tech platform EatClub has banked $18.2 million in its Series A capital raise, as it plans to expand throughout the United Kingdom.
- The platform, which launched in 2017 and is backed by Marco Pierre White, allows restaurants to upload limited, time-sensitive offers during off-peak hours to attract diners in real-time.
- The company faced extinction in 2020, but after launching its proprietary payments system EatClub Pay, it took off. The company says it saw 190% growth in 2024 alone.
Big number
$18.2 million – that’s how much cash EatClub raised in its Series A. The round was led by Co:Act Capital, a Melbourne-based venture capital firm, with participation from Gandel Invest, Marbruck and Les Szekely.
It’s a decent figure – and a big jump for a company that faced extinction when COVID hit in 2020 and dine-in transactions dropped to zero as pandemic lockdowns set in.
Key background
EatClub was launched in 2017 by founder and CEO Pan Koutlakis as a mobile app for restaurants to upload exclusive discounts – sometimes up to 50% – to attract customers at off-peak times.
“It completely reimagines what a dining incentive should look like,” Koutlakis said. “Restaurants get targeted demand, and diners get spontaneity without friction.”
When COVID hit, things took a turn for the hospitality industry as a whole – and EatClub says it hit a wall. But rather than find an exit strategy, Koutlakis says the business took the opportunity to double down and use the downtime to create technology that would future-proof the business. Out of that came EatClub Pay, the company’s proprietary payments system. Now, diners can use EatClub’s digital payments system to order and pay for their meals.
“It completely reimagines what a dining incentive should look like,” Koutlakis said. “Restaurants get targeted demand, and diners get spontaneity without friction.”
Crucial quote
“When we first invested in 2019, EatClub was one of the fastest-growing businesses I’d ever seen,” said Daniel Szekely, Partner at EVP and early investor in EatClub.
What to look for
The company – which says its scaled to 7x its pre-pandemic peak and saw 190% growth in 2024 alone – is expanding throughout London with its fresh capital.
Tangent
The hospitality industry has historically been slow to adopt new technology, but the Lightspeed Hospitality Insights and Dining Dynamics Report shows that this is changing: nearly half (47%) of venue operators have acknowledged the role of technology in enhancing operational efficiency amid rising costs and labour shortages, and 41% note improvements in customer service, as digital tools allow staff to concentrate more on service delivery.
The report anticipates that in 2025, there will be sustained investment in technologies including contactless payment systems, workforce management software, online ordering platforms, and inventory management software.
In Australia, Forbes has covered the likes of Mr Yum (which merged with me&u in late 2023) and Restoke.ai – both designed to boost restaurants’ bottom lines.
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