Major investors including Justin Hemmes have jumped in to turbocharge rollout of a new table ordering and payment system by the founder of restaurant app Dimmi.
Stevan Premutico launched a second capital raise in Melbourne this week, for his new business me&u.
The technology aims to improve the patron dining experience, by streamlining the time it takes to order and pay.
Beacons are affixed to the table, allowing users to link with their smartphone, providing a digital, personalised menu, and allowing them to pay through the app.
The me&u system takes a straight five per cent of orders, and Premutico suggests it is increasing order size by up to 30 per cent.
The Dimmi founder offers it is the connection between a very tech-savvy customer and a very old-school industry.
Initially launched last year, me&u quickly attracted an impressive list of investors, raising over $11m from the likes of Neil Perry, Google boss Jason Pelegrino, former MYOB chief Tim Reed, LinkedIn Asia-Pacific MD Cliff Rosenberg, and Facebook Australia MD William Easton.
This second round of investment has brought another $8m from the likes of Merivale’s Justin Hemmes and Tyro Payments’ Robbie Cooke. It will expand me&u beyond its existing 8,500 venues around Australia, which already includes sites owned by Rockpool and Colonial Leisure Group.
After selling his first start-up in 2015 for $25 million, Premutico says he’s determined to make a difference in Australia’s $20bn hospitality industry, which is finding more customers finding reasons to stay at home.
Merivale will reportedly be rolling out the system in its 70-odd venues in early 2020, and Tyro is due to become the main payments provider.
“It’s great to be here now with an innovative and cutting-edge product that can help us further improve customer experiences in our venues,” says Hemmes.
“Staff will be able to better assist customers instead of spending time on payments and splitting bills. This is a huge industry-wide issue.”
