Bite, the leading provider of intelligent kiosk solutions for fast-casual and quick-service restaurants, today announced it has secured $9 million in Series A funding. The funding round was led by Staley Capital, with participation from Graham Partners, Food-X, One Way Ventures and Tamarisc Ventures. This investment will fuel Bite’s mission to elevate the hospitality experience, providing a convenient and intuitive ordering solution for guests placing their orders in restaurant venues.
As thousands of restaurants face some of the most significant labor challenges ever, Bite’s industry leading self-service kiosk software provides the ability to drive digital ordering at all fast-casual and quick-serve restaurants. Bite’s in-store ordering platform currently helps more than 1,100 restaurant locations improve labor efficiencies and leverage powerful personalization, resulting in check sizes growing by an average of 20%. Bite’s software is highly customizable, user-friendly, and seamlessly integrates into existing tech stacks, ensuring improved order accuracy, increased throughput, and enhanced customer satisfaction.
“The restaurant industry is facing a very challenging environment, struggling to generate profits in the midst of an unprecedented labor shortage, rising minimum wages and cost inflation,” says Brandon Barton, CEO of Bite. “Bite’s self-service kiosk software gives restaurants the tools to succeed in this environment, by leveraging our technology for tasks that can be digitized and reallocating labor to higher priority responsibilities, including greeting guests, preparing food and managing the handoff of completed orders.”
Barton adds: “Coupled with our use of AI to personalize the ordering experience, we are also able to help offset increasing labor costs by driving higher average checks per order. We are very appreciative of our investors who understand Bite’s differentiated offering and the value we provide to our restaurant partners. We look forward to executing on our ambitious growth plans by helping restaurants grow revenue and improve both employee satisfaction and the guest experience.”
Bite will use the proceeds of this funding round to further fuel its growth, with a focus on enterprise restaurant brands, emerging fast casual brands and innovative c-stores. While many of its restaurant partners live with Bite in only a portion of their locations, Bite will invest in scaling its technology solutions with its existing partners, as well as onboarding new clients in its pipeline. The company will also continue to invest in its technology capabilities, including its patented Artificial Intelligence, called Bite Lift, which analyzes each order in real time to offer personalized upsell recommendations, a key to driving higher average check sizes.
“Bite’s technology platform is a gamechanger for restaurants who are looking for ways to offset the significant cost pressures on their business, while elevating the in-restaurant experience in a way that engages guests more favorably and increases check sizes,” says Renny Smith, Managing Partner at Staley Capital. “Our focus is on partnering with growth-stage B2B technology companies that provide ‘better, faster, cheaper’ solutions with compelling value propositions, and Bite delivers on that in meaningful ways, allowing restaurants to work smarter and faster in servicing their guests.”
“As we continue to grow our exciting portfolio of evolving, quick-service and fast casual restaurant concepts, we’re hyper focused on scaling efficiently while delivering the same level of hospitality that our brands are known for,” says Joe Unger, Brand President & Chief Operating Officer at Gosh Enterprises, the owner of BIBIBOP Asian Grill, Charleys Philly Steaks, and Lennys Grill & Subs. “Bite streamlines the ordering and payment process for our guests and allows our valued team members and franchisees the ability to spend more time providing delicious food and great guest experiences. Plus, order suggestions recommended via Bite Lift truly personalize the guest experience by guiding our guests to great additions that complement their existing order. Our partnership with Bite has been a game changer, as we bolster our portfolio and rapidly expand our existing concepts.”
