Branded Hospitality

Branded Hospitality, established in 2017, is a New York-based venture capital firm specializing in investments within the hospitality and technology sectors. The company focuses on seed, early, and later-stage companies, preferring minority stakes in its portfolio. Branded Hospitality operates through three key business lines: Venture Investments, Solutions, and Media. Through Venture Investments, the firm backs innovative technologies and emerging brands transforming the food service and hospitality landscape. The Solutions division collaborates with leading corporate partners to develop tailored solutions enhancing operational efficiency and brand visibility. As a media leader, Branded Hospitality creates and distributes compelling content, engaging key decision-makers and thought leaders in the industry.

David “Rev” Ciancio

Partner

Gregory Essner

CFO

Jimmy Frischling

Founder and Managing Partner

Matthew Lerner

COO and Partner

Stephen Van Note

Partner, Hospitality

Michael Schatzber

Founder and Managing Partner

Michael Schatzberg

Co-Founder and Managing Partner

Mark Senkpiel

Portfolio Manager and Partner

Past deals in Restaurants

Mr Bing Foods

Series A in 2024
Mr. Bing Foods is a company that specializes in creating sauces and condiments inspired by East Asian flavors. Founded in 2012 in Hong Kong, the brand initially gained recognition for its street food kiosks, winning the "Rookie of the Year" award from the Vendy Awards in 2015 for its exceptional offerings in New York City. In response to consumer demand, Mr. Bing launched its signature Chili Crisp sauce in 2018, followed by additional products like Thai-Style Sriracha and Sweet and Spicy Chili Crisp Wing Sauce. Although the street food kiosks closed during the pandemic, the company's offerings have transitioned to retail, making their sauces available in thousands of grocery stores, restaurants, and various venues across the nation. Mr. Bing Foods focuses on delivering intensely flavorful condiments made from a blend of peppers, umami-rich mushroom powder, and garlic, enhancing a wide variety of dishes from eggs and rice to burgers and pizzas.

ARI Venture Studio

Pre Seed Round in 2024
ARI Venture Studio is a pioneering venture studio established in 2024 and located in Dallas, Texas. It specializes in developing innovative technology solutions tailored specifically for the restaurant industry. As the first of its kind in this niche, ARI Venture Studio aims to address the unique challenges faced by restaurants through strategic investment and development of cutting-edge technologies. By combining industry expertise with a focus on technological advancement, ARI Venture Studio seeks to enhance operational efficiency and improve customer experiences within the restaurant sector.

LDV Hospitality

Venture Round in 2024
LDV Hospitality is a boutique firm specializing in creating authentic dining and cocktail experiences. It designs, operates, and manages signature restaurant brands and tailored hospitality services for iconic hotels, ensuring guests enjoy unique and memorable experiences.

Big Chicken

Series A in 2024
Big Chicken is a fast-food restaurant chain based in Las Vegas, Nevada, known for its diverse menu that features popcorn chicken, crinkle-cut fries, desserts, and kid's meals. The company specializes in a range of chicken sandwiches, providing a casual dining experience that appeals to a broad clientele. By focusing on quality ingredients and a flavorful menu, Big Chicken aims to establish itself as a notable player in the competitive fast-food industry.

JUICER

Venture Round in 2022
JUICER is a technology company focused on enhancing pricing strategies for restaurants through the use of machine learning algorithms. Its system automates dynamic pricing by analyzing historical sales data to forecast demand for menu items accurately. This allows restaurant owners to optimize their pricing in real-time, ensuring that prices are adjusted automatically within their existing point-of-sale or digital ordering systems. By implementing JUICER's solutions, restaurants can increase profitability during peak periods, boost sales during slower times, and improve customer satisfaction by offering tailored deals to price-sensitive diners. The company aims to help restaurants maintain demand patterns while fostering customer loyalty through intelligent pricing strategies.

Ovation

Seed Round in 2022
Ovation Up, Inc is a technology company based in Orem, Utah, founded in 2017, that specializes in online review and customer feedback analysis. The company offers a platform that enables businesses, particularly in the restaurant sector, to enhance customer experience and manage their online reputation. By leveraging kiosks, QR codes, and web/mobile applications, Ovation allows business owners to gather customer insights and facilitate engagement with dissatisfied customers. The platform supports text marketing strategies to invite customers back, helping to convert them into loyal advocates. Ovation's services are designed to improve customer retention and increase revenue by driving higher engagement rates and fostering positive online reviews, making it significantly more effective than traditional feedback methods.

Tablz

Pre Seed Round in 2022
Tablz is a company that specializes in transforming the dining experience through technology. It offers a three-dimensional reservation platform designed for the food and beverage industry. This platform allows diners to select and upgrade to their preferred table or section, addressing the common issue of not being able to choose one's seating. For restaurants, Tablz enables the monetization of dining spaces based on supply and demand, optimizing workflows, reducing costs, and enhancing guest experiences by accurately pricing the value of coveted real estate.

Hone

Venture Round in 2022
Developer of restaurant management software created to improve business operations and performances. The company's platform assists in setting and tracking weekly business goals, integrates bookkeeping, reporting, and operational insight, monitors managers' log as well as assigns tasks automatically, enabling restaurant operators to achieve maximum profit while focusing on guests and hospitality.

Blanket

Venture Round in 2022
Blanket, Inc. is a task management and compliance software company based in Brooklyn, New York, founded in 2018. It specializes in providing solutions tailored for multi-unit restaurant operators, focusing on various aspects of operational efficiency including employee engagement, communication, facility maintenance, food safety and quality assurance. Blanket also offers tools for team building and talent development, aiming to enhance overall workplace productivity and compliance within the restaurant industry.

Incentivio

Seed Round in 2022
Incentivio is a developer of an intelligent guest engagement platform tailored for the restaurant industry, aiming to enhance the dining experience in the digital age. The platform supports restaurants in acquiring new customers, boosting visit frequency and spending, and fostering loyalty among both first-time visitors and repeat patrons. By leveraging a combination of online ordering, white-label apps, loyalty programs, analytics, and guest journey management, Incentivio provides a comprehensive system that helps restaurants improve customer retention while also reducing operational costs. Its focus on data-driven marketing and machine learning upsell strategies enables restaurants to maximize revenue and establish lasting connections with their guests.

Bite

Seed Round in 2022
Bite Inc. is a technology company that specializes in developing digital ordering solutions for the hospitality industry. Established in 2015 and headquartered in New York, the company offers a range of products designed to enhance the guest experience in restaurants. Its primary offerings include bitekiosk, a software platform for self-service ordering through kiosks, and biteFLASH, a mobile interface that enables contactless ordering via QR codes. Bite's innovative software incorporates features such as facial recognition, allowing it to identify guests, learn their preferences, and tailor recommendations accordingly. This technology is predominantly utilized by quick service and fast casual restaurants, aiming to streamline operations and strengthen customer relationships.

Cut+Dry

Seed Round in 2022
Cut+Dry offers online ordering, product discovery, delivery tracking, and payment services. They are serial entrepreneurs in hospitality and financial technology, restaurant operations, wholesale food distribution, and food analytics and data science.

Ingest

Seed Round in 2022
Ingest is a data management and analytics platform tailored for restaurants and food and beverage retailers. The company focuses on integrating various operational tools and systems, allowing businesses to connect disparate data sources and access critical metrics. By providing features such as time and attendance automation, scheduling, invoice management, and reservations, Ingest empowers decision-makers with real-time insights through interactive dashboards and PDF reports. This comprehensive approach enables all stakeholders within a business to identify effective practices, areas for improvement, and make informed decisions quickly, ultimately enhancing operational efficiency and performance in the competitive food and beverage sector.

Curbit

Seed Round in 2021
Curbit is a technology company based in Calabasas, California, founded in 2020. It specializes in developing a curbside delivery application aimed at enhancing the takeaway experience for consumers and restaurants. The application allows customers to order food from their preferred restaurants in advance, drive to the establishment, and receive their orders delivered directly to their vehicles. This innovative approach enables smaller restaurants to efficiently serve takeaway meals without relying on costly third-party delivery services, thereby promoting convenience and safety for both customers and restaurant operators.

Curbit

Convertible Note in 2021
Curbit is a technology company based in Calabasas, California, founded in 2020. It specializes in developing a curbside delivery application aimed at enhancing the takeaway experience for consumers and restaurants. The application allows customers to order food from their preferred restaurants in advance, drive to the establishment, and receive their orders delivered directly to their vehicles. This innovative approach enables smaller restaurants to efficiently serve takeaway meals without relying on costly third-party delivery services, thereby promoting convenience and safety for both customers and restaurant operators.

GoTab

Convertible Note in 2021
GoTab is a hospitality commerce platform designed to assist large and mid-sized restaurants, breweries, bars, hotels, and other venues in operating efficiently and profitably. The platform offers a comprehensive suite of services, including ordering, point-of-sale, and kitchen management, while allowing for seamless integration with existing systems. Patrons can place orders and make payments through waitstaff or directly from their mobile devices, providing flexibility in the dining experience. By leveraging GoTab's technology, hospitality organizations can access essential features and actionable data tailored to their specific needs, ultimately leading to reduced operational costs and enhanced guest experiences.

Picnic

Series A in 2021
Picnic, founded in 2016 and based in Seattle, Washington, specializes in food production technology and robotics solutions for the food service and hospitality industries. Formerly known as Vivid Robotics Inc., the company has assembled a team of experienced professionals from both food and technology sectors. Picnic's flagship product, the Pizza Production System, represents a significant innovation in automated food preparation, enabling commercial kitchens to produce hundreds of custom pizzas per hour using chef-selected ingredients and recipes. The company's application facilitates seamless interactions and ordering processes for food companies, enhancing operational efficiency in the industry.

Galley Solutions

Seed Round in 2021
Galley Solutions, Inc. is a software company that specializes in food production management, providing tools designed to enhance the efficiency and profitability of kitchens. Its primary product, Galley, enables restaurants and corporate kitchens to create and manage recipes, compile menus, and generate shopping lists. The software also assists kitchen managers in tracking ingredient costs, managing inventories, and identifying synergies between menu items that utilize shared ingredients. By analyzing food data, Galley empowers food businesses to make informed, data-driven decisions, ultimately improving their profit margins. Founded in 2017 and based in San Diego, California, Galley Solutions aims to streamline operations for caterers and other food service providers, helping them optimize purchasing, reduce waste, and enhance overall kitchen productivity.

Simple

Convertible Note in 2021
Simple is a digital marketplace designed to facilitate connections, communication, and transactions among restaurants, distributors, and suppliers. The company offers an integrated restaurant management system that streamlines the ordering and purchasing processes. By providing product pricing insights and a centralized platform, Simple enables its clients to easily find products and conduct business more efficiently. This focused approach helps improve operational efficiencies within the food service industry, allowing stakeholders to manage their transactions seamlessly.

Mighty Quinn's Barbeque

Series A in 2021
Mighty Quinn's Barbeque operates a chain of restaurants that provide an authentic barbeque experience in a fast-casual setting. The establishment is known for its menu featuring all-natural meats, poultry, and a variety of sides, all prepared using quality ingredients and smoked over oak, apple, and cherry wood. In addition to its restaurant operations, Mighty Quinn's Barbeque offers franchising opportunities and catering services, allowing it to extend its reach and share its distinct barbeque offerings with a broader audience.

Picnic

Series A in 2021
Picnic, founded in 2016 and based in Seattle, Washington, specializes in food production technology and robotics solutions for the food service and hospitality industries. Formerly known as Vivid Robotics Inc., the company has assembled a team of experienced professionals from both food and technology sectors. Picnic's flagship product, the Pizza Production System, represents a significant innovation in automated food preparation, enabling commercial kitchens to produce hundreds of custom pizzas per hour using chef-selected ingredients and recipes. The company's application facilitates seamless interactions and ordering processes for food companies, enhancing operational efficiency in the industry.

Chowly

Venture Round in 2021
Chowly Inc., established in 2015 and based in Chicago, Illinois, specializes in streamlining restaurant operations by integrating third-party online ordering platforms with restaurant point-of-sale systems. Its platform automatically transfers orders from various online sources to the restaurant's POS, reducing manual effort, minimizing errors, and saving staff time, thereby lowering costs and increasing efficiency.

Brizo Data

Seed Round in 2021
Brizo FoodMetrics is a leading data and analytics provider for the foodservice industry. Brizo helps the most competitive restauranteurs and restaurant vendors make better informed decisions and win their market.

Mighty Quinn's Barbeque

Seed Round in 2021
Mighty Quinn's Barbeque operates a chain of restaurants that provide an authentic barbeque experience in a fast-casual setting. The establishment is known for its menu featuring all-natural meats, poultry, and a variety of sides, all prepared using quality ingredients and smoked over oak, apple, and cherry wood. In addition to its restaurant operations, Mighty Quinn's Barbeque offers franchising opportunities and catering services, allowing it to extend its reach and share its distinct barbeque offerings with a broader audience.

DriveKindness

Seed Round in 2021
DriveKindness is an online food delivery company that specializes in home meal delivery services. It aims to enhance the customer experience for restaurants by offering features such as driver tracking, which facilitates direct communication between drivers and customers. The platform also includes marketing tools like coupons, videos, and a rewards program to promote engagement. By focusing on transparency and efficiency, DriveKindness enables its clients to deliver a seamless food delivery service while fostering community connections. The company supports both customers and franchisees, ensuring a comprehensive approach to meal delivery. Inquiries can be made through an online form available on its website.

MarginEdge

Series A in 2020
MarginEdge Co. is a technology company that specializes in developing food and beverage tracking and analytics software specifically for the restaurant industry. Founded in 2015 and based in Falls Church, Virginia, the company offers a comprehensive software solution that facilitates invoice management, recipe and product pricing, and food cost optimization. MarginEdge's software automates critical processes and integrates various systems to streamline essential activities such as inventory management, cost tracking, ordering, and recipe management. By automating data entry for invoices and providing real-time insights into kitchen operations, MarginEdge helps restaurants reduce food costs, alleviate invoice-related challenges, and enhance overall operational efficiency.

Ovation

Seed Round in 2020
Ovation Up, Inc is a technology company based in Orem, Utah, founded in 2017, that specializes in online review and customer feedback analysis. The company offers a platform that enables businesses, particularly in the restaurant sector, to enhance customer experience and manage their online reputation. By leveraging kiosks, QR codes, and web/mobile applications, Ovation allows business owners to gather customer insights and facilitate engagement with dissatisfied customers. The platform supports text marketing strategies to invite customers back, helping to convert them into loyal advocates. Ovation's services are designed to improve customer retention and increase revenue by driving higher engagement rates and fostering positive online reviews, making it significantly more effective than traditional feedback methods.

Blanket

Seed Round in 2020
Blanket, Inc. is a task management and compliance software company based in Brooklyn, New York, founded in 2018. It specializes in providing solutions tailored for multi-unit restaurant operators, focusing on various aspects of operational efficiency including employee engagement, communication, facility maintenance, food safety and quality assurance. Blanket also offers tools for team building and talent development, aiming to enhance overall workplace productivity and compliance within the restaurant industry.

Ovation

Seed Round in 2020
Ovation Up, Inc is a technology company based in Orem, Utah, founded in 2017, that specializes in online review and customer feedback analysis. The company offers a platform that enables businesses, particularly in the restaurant sector, to enhance customer experience and manage their online reputation. By leveraging kiosks, QR codes, and web/mobile applications, Ovation allows business owners to gather customer insights and facilitate engagement with dissatisfied customers. The platform supports text marketing strategies to invite customers back, helping to convert them into loyal advocates. Ovation's services are designed to improve customer retention and increase revenue by driving higher engagement rates and fostering positive online reviews, making it significantly more effective than traditional feedback methods.

GoParrot

Series A in 2020
GoParrot is a technology company that offers a food ordering platform aimed at enhancing the digital ordering experience for restaurant operators. By integrating with point of sale systems and utilizing AI-driven insights, GoParrot enables businesses to optimize their operations, boost customer engagement, and enhance revenue generation. The platform also incorporates diversified delivery networks and loyalty and marketing programs to further support restaurant operators. Founded by Ariel David, GoParrot collaborates with various notable restaurants, including Dos Toros, Westville, Doughnut Plant, and Juice Press, to deliver innovative solutions tailored to the food service industry.

Yumpingo

Series A in 2020
Yumpingo Ltd, established in 2016, is a London-based technology company that operates a big data analytics application tailored for the restaurant industry. The platform captures real-time customer feedback, providing live Net Promoter Scores (NPS) for every venue, shift, dish, and server. This enables restaurant operators to gain a comprehensive understanding of their business, allowing them to make informed decisions and invest strategically in their estate. Yumpingo's solution involves a dedicated tablet running a single application, which diners use to complete a one-minute food review at the end of their meal. The company also has an office in New York, USA.

VROMO

Series A in 2020
VROMO is a developer of delivery management software focused on enhancing the operational efficiency of restaurant brands. The company's platform is designed to streamline delivery processes, improve fulfillment, and reduce both labor and delivery times. By enabling restaurants to optimize their delivery channels, VROMO aims to enhance customer engagement and retention while ultimately increasing profitability for these businesses. The software provides tools that help brands connect with their customers in targeted and strategic ways, contributing to a better overall brand experience and greater customer satisfaction.

VROMO

Seed Round in 2019
VROMO is a developer of delivery management software focused on enhancing the operational efficiency of restaurant brands. The company's platform is designed to streamline delivery processes, improve fulfillment, and reduce both labor and delivery times. By enabling restaurants to optimize their delivery channels, VROMO aims to enhance customer engagement and retention while ultimately increasing profitability for these businesses. The software provides tools that help brands connect with their customers in targeted and strategic ways, contributing to a better overall brand experience and greater customer satisfaction.

Yumpingo

Series A in 2019
Yumpingo Ltd, established in 2016, is a London-based technology company that operates a big data analytics application tailored for the restaurant industry. The platform captures real-time customer feedback, providing live Net Promoter Scores (NPS) for every venue, shift, dish, and server. This enables restaurant operators to gain a comprehensive understanding of their business, allowing them to make informed decisions and invest strategically in their estate. Yumpingo's solution involves a dedicated tablet running a single application, which diners use to complete a one-minute food review at the end of their meal. The company also has an office in New York, USA.

GoParrot

Seed Round in 2019
GoParrot is a technology company that offers a food ordering platform aimed at enhancing the digital ordering experience for restaurant operators. By integrating with point of sale systems and utilizing AI-driven insights, GoParrot enables businesses to optimize their operations, boost customer engagement, and enhance revenue generation. The platform also incorporates diversified delivery networks and loyalty and marketing programs to further support restaurant operators. Founded by Ariel David, GoParrot collaborates with various notable restaurants, including Dos Toros, Westville, Doughnut Plant, and Juice Press, to deliver innovative solutions tailored to the food service industry.

Bbot

Convertible Note in 2019
Bbot, Inc. is a technology company that specializes in order and payment solutions tailored for the hospitality industry, including bars, restaurants, hotels, breweries, food halls, and multi-vendor setups. Founded in 2017, the company is headquartered in Astoria, New York. Bbot's platform enables these establishments to create digital menus and offers guest-controlled, contactless ordering and payment options. This configurable solution is designed to streamline food and beverage operations, enhance customer experience, and help businesses increase revenue while reducing staffing costs. The platform features secure payment processing, integration with existing point-of-sale systems, and tailored customer support, making it a valuable asset for hospitality organizations looking to improve efficiency and service quality.

Chowly

Series A in 2017
Chowly Inc., established in 2015 and based in Chicago, Illinois, specializes in streamlining restaurant operations by integrating third-party online ordering platforms with restaurant point-of-sale systems. Its platform automatically transfers orders from various online sources to the restaurant's POS, reducing manual effort, minimizing errors, and saving staff time, thereby lowering costs and increasing efficiency.
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