A mobile platform for ordering and paying in restaurants and bars has raised £4.4 million in a pre-Series A round led by West Hill Capital.
Entering the market long before COVID-19 hit, London-based Wi5 says it was at the forefront of delivering digital menus in restaurants, bars and cafés via web-apps.
The start-up was quick to sign hundreds of hospitality venues, including enterprise brands such as Pho, Boxpark and Urban Pubs & Bars.
The latest raise will be invested in accelerating the development of its data-driven product offering, while growing its UK market share and building on early success in the US.
Wi5 is designed to boost profitability by improving operational efficiencies and increasing frequency and average value of orders. It says 100% of sales, both on and off-premise, can go through mobile, providing frictionless and intuitive experiences for customers and operators.
Barriers such as high costs and limited technical expertise previously meant top-quality hospitality technology was only accessible to global enterprise brands. Wi5 is addressing a gap in the market, placing advanced customer targeting and profitability optimisation within the reach of all operators.
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Already gaining traction in key cities such as Texas and Miami, Wi5’s international expansion will initially focus on the US, where it expects revenues to overtake those from the UK within 18 months.
Wi5’s senior team has a track record of rapid growth and US expansion. Alberto Menolascina has been on the board since 2019 and, having left dark kitchen giant, Reef, where he served as Chief Growth Officer, has started the much talked-about grocery delivery start–up, Dija, which recently raised a £20m Seed with Blossom Capital, Creandum and Index Ventures.
“For too long, so many SMEs — representing 80% of the hospitality industry — have been excluded from the benefits of modern sales technology due to the unit economics and requisite technical expertise,” said founder and CEO Prask Sutton.
“We strongly believe there’s another way and our product offering and commercial model proves that.
“In a market worth $47 billion, we’re providing an advanced sales platform and card processing solution at a cost below the most popular payment-only services.”
“I’m delighted West Hill followed on to lead this round. Their further financial backing represents a great vote of confidence in the acceleration of our business.
“This puts us in a fantastic position to capitalise on the wealth of data mobile ‘order and pay’ is generating and further increase the profitability of our operators.”