US firm buys Israel restaurant tech startup SimpleOrder
Upserve, which provides restaurant management software, says the acquisition will allow it to help restaurants slice food costs and grow profit
Shoshanna Solomon was The Times of Israel's Startups and Business reporter
Tel Aviv-based restaurant technology firm SimpleOrder has been snapped up by Upserve, a US-based firm that provides restaurant management software that helps eateries streamline their operations, cut food costs and grow profit, the US firm said in a statement. No financial details of the deal were disclosed.
The software developed by SimpleOrder is a digital inventory management system that enables restaurant operators to track their food purchases in an automated manner, keeping real time tabs on what is in the restaurant and what is needed. This allows owners to reduce food waste and streamline their ordering mechanism, and helps suppliers, retailers and food chains to communicate with each other.
The software is used by thousands of restaurants in over 25 countries, the statement said.
Food cost is one of the largest expenses for restaurants, accounting for 28-35% of gross sales, but determining the cost of food and how to reduce it is usually manual, time-consuming and error-prone. In a busy, fast-paced restaurant environment, it’s also easy to lose track of what was bought, how much and from which vendor. The process is stressful and overwhelming, but most importantly, wasted food translates into lost profits, Upserve said in the statement.
After the acquisition, SimpleOrder’s product will be called Upserve Inventory, and will be fully integrated into its restaurant management platform. Outside the US, however, SimpleOrder will continue to operate as SimpleOrder by Upserve.
“By acquiring SimpleOrder, Upserve brings the industry’s best-in-class inventory solution to Upserve’s comprehensive restaurant management platform, the magic ingredient that helps restaurants boost profitability,” Angus Davis, CEO and founder of Upserve said in the statement. “Customers using Upserve Inventory save 30-50 hours every month and report 5-8% improvement in their margins. Simply put, if your restaurant doesn’t have it, your profit margins are suffering.”
The Israeli firm was founded 2012 by restaurant industry veterans Amir Zelig and Arik Mezen, who saw the need to upgrade restaurant operations with digital tools.
Israeli VC firms FoodLab Capital, Cyrus Capital Partners and the Lazarus Israel Opportunities Fund are among the investors in the Israeli startup, according to data compiled by Start-Up Nation Central. Ibex Investors is also an investor in the firm, Upserve said. SimpleOrder has raised some $4.5 million to date, according to the data.
The Tel Aviv firm was also mentioned by New York-based data firm CB Insights as one of the Israeli early-stage business-to-business software companies to watch.
Over 10,000 restaurants use Upserve software to run their restaurants, the statement said, from managing shifts to managing relationships with more than 57 million active diners, processing over $12 billion in annual sales and serving over 36 million meals per month. Upserve is headquartered in Providence with additional offices in Denver, New York City, Chicago and Tel Aviv.
