popmenu: Restaurant Marketing & Delivery Software - Investor Backed

Brendan Sweeney had no prior experience in the restaurant industry when he and his partners established the Atlanta-based company, Popmenu.

Sweeney observed that it was remarkable how, while nearly all businesses utilized compelling visuals, well-written descriptions, high-quality images, and engaging videos to attract customers, restaurants typically presented their menus as simple text.

“It’s truly surprising that restaurants showcase their offerings – essentially their entire brand and value proposition – using only plain text,” Sweeney explained.

Popmenu, the company Sweeney co-founded with three former colleagues from various Atlanta-area software companies (and which has secured $17 million in new funding), provides a solution to this issue.

The company’s software is designed to encourage customers to remain on a restaurant’s own website by integrating third-party reviews, photos, recommendations, and enhanced descriptions into the webpages it creates for its restaurant clients. “Providing all this information directly on a restaurant’s website could significantly decrease the need for customers to navigate elsewhere,” Sweeney stated.

Popmenu offers more than just visually appealing webpages for culinary businesses that may lack extensive coding expertise. The software also assists with social media management, email marketing, and, importantly, the delivery services that have become essential during the ongoing pandemic.

Sweeney noted that the pandemic significantly accelerated the company’s growth. “We witnessed a decade’s worth of industry shifts within the first ten weeks of COVID-19,” he said. “Many businesses were unprepared for the rapid changes.”

Sweeney and his co-founders – Mike Gullo, Anthony Roy, and Justis Blasco – had previously collaborated at either CareerBuilder or Commissions Inc. It was their experience at Commissions that initially inspired the creation of Popmenu.

While Commissions focused on providing tools to help local real estate professionals regain control from large online platforms, Popmenu aims to offer similar resources to restaurants.

“I applied a proven strategy for assisting small businesses with SaaS solutions, and we are now empowering restaurants to reclaim control from platforms like Yelp and Tripadvisor,” Sweeney said.

Other companies nationwide, such as ChowNow based in Los Angeles, are pursuing similar goals. However, while ChowNow concentrates on online ordering, Popmenu initially focused on marketing and enhancing the visual appeal of menus.

The company intends to utilize the newly acquired funds to introduce services like on-site contactless transactions, potentially establishing a connection between front-of-house and back-of-house operations, as well as ordering and fulfillment services.

Current investors, including Base10 Partners and Felicis Ventures, participated in the company’s Series B funding round, alongside new lead investor Bedrock Capital. Popmenu has also attracted investment from Mantis VC, the recently established investment firm founded by the popular music duo, The Chainsmokers.

According to Milan Koch of Mantis VC, they were actively seeking a solution like this. “When Alex, Drew, and I met the Popmenu team, it was immediately clear how deeply they cared about restaurants,” Koch stated. “With our connections to restaurant owners and hospitality groups globally, and understanding the challenges they face, we were excited about the potential impact of Popmenu’s product on their businesses.”

Popmenu’s software is offered on a monthly subscription basis, starting at $269 per location.

“Many industries have experienced accelerated trends due to the COVID-19 crisis, and the restaurant industry is perhaps the most impacted,” Sweeney said. “They have embraced technology as a crucial element for navigating these difficult times. We are dedicated to providing them with even greater support in attracting customers and reducing costs as they recover.”