Participated · Seed · Apr 2024

Juicer is a San Francisco–based company that offers data-driven restaurant revenue management and competitive intelligence. Co-founded by Drew Patterson and Ashwin Kamlani, the company uses AI and machine learning to optimize menu prices and deliver predictable pricing for customers. Its products include JUICER Pricing, an algorithmic price optimization engine, and JUICER Compete, an AI-driven competitive intelligence solution for comparing local competitors' menu prices and evaluating bundles and value meals. The platform aims to enable national brands, franchisees, and restaurants to optimize prices and help consumers take advantage of lower prices during off-peak periods. Juicer intends to use the newly raised funds to accelerate development of its tools and data for restaurant operators. The company raised $5.3M in Seed funding to support that expansion.

Participated · Equity · Sep 2022

Ovation offers a hospitality-focused software platform that begins with a two-question guest survey and expands into tools for managing feedback, online reviews, and day-to-day store operations. The Salt Lake City company positions itself as a partner rather than a traditional SaaS vendor, emphasizing human connection to drive higher customer satisfaction and revenue. Its technology is used by more than 1,000 restaurant brands, including Dave's Hot Chicken, Swig, The Great Greek, and Mooyah, reaching thousands of individual restaurant locations. Operators use Ovation to surface actionable insights and resolve issues before they lead to lost business, enabling timely guest recovery. Investors who also use the product praise its ability to deliver real-time, store-level insights. Ovation has raised $12 million in total funding to date, indicating prior capital of about $9 million before the latest round. The new funds will support continued product development and expansion across additional restaurant groups, furthering its mission to strengthen guest relationships in multi-unit dining.

Participated · Seed · Aug 2022

Ottonomy is a Santa Monica, CA-based deep tech startup that provides hyperlocal, contactless deliveries using fully autonomous robots called Ottobots. Led by CEO Ritukar Vijay, the company deploys Ottobots to navigate labor shortages and enable reduced staff requirements. The robots have begun operations at Cincinnati International Airport (CVG) and provide airport deliveries at Rome Fiumicino International Airport (FCO). Ottonomy recently received an investment from ADR Ventures; the amount of the deal was not disclosed. The company intends to use the funds to expand operations and broaden its business reach. ADR Ventures is the corporate venture capital arm of Aeroporti di Roma. Ottonomy.IO develops autonomous delivery robots equipped with sensors (including 3D lidar and cameras) and proprietary software and AI to enable indoor and outdoor navigation without GPS dependence. Its latest model, Ottobot 2.0, adds modular cabins, increased customer access, directional mobility including a crab mode, and QR-code access for secure retrieval; the design emphasizes accessibility (including wheelchair access). The company develops its robots in India while operating from New York and employs about 25 people across the U.S. and India. Ottonomy.IO positions its product for curbside, F&B, retail and e-commerce last-mile deliveries and has deployed units at Cincinnati International Airport while engaging multiple airports and fleet partners in the U.S. and Europe. The startup says it is working with Fortune 500 customers in retail and restaurants, and plans expansion into the Middle East and South America within the year. Management expects heavy deployments over the next three to five months and plans to expand the team as part of its go-to-market push.

Participated · Seed · Jun 2022

Tablz is an Ottawa-founded startup founded in 2021 that uses 3D seating technology to let diners pay between $5 and $100 to choose the exact table when making a reservation. The opt-in platform applies variable pricing by time and day and gives restaurants 70 percent of fees to create a new, net-new revenue stream. Tablz completed a pilot that saw over 2,500 tables booked through its platform and says it already serves restaurants in Toronto, Chicago, New York, and Miami, with plans to expand to Dubai. The team aims to have 100 marquee properties using Tablz by the end of 2022 and is working with hospitality groups and some major chains. The startup used proceeds from a partial sale of its prior venture, Transparent Kitchen, to finance development and early operations and has since raised institutional funding to scale. Tablz positions its product as an alternative to flat pricing models and emphasizes the service is voluntary for restaurants and diners.

Participated · Series A · Apr 2022

Leasecake builds a real estate and location management platform used by multi-unit operators to manage leases, locations, and assets and to reduce portfolio risk. Led by CEO Scott Williamson and based in Winter Park, FL, the company serves thousands of brands and tens of thousands of locations across the United States and Canada. Over the past year Leasecake doubled its number of platform users. The company raised a $10M Series A extension and secured a venture debt facility to support growth. Leasecake intends to use the funds to further refine its platform and to expand its product offerings to better accommodate its customer base. The platform’s focus is on improving operational efficiency and decreasing risk for multi-location portfolios. Leasecake is a cloud-based operating system that centralizes lease and location information for tenants, brokers, landlords, franchisors, private-equity firms and corporate tenants. The platform integrates data from multiple sources to serve as a single source of truth, supporting lease management, lease accounting, insurance agreements and franchise operations. Customers range from single-site operators to organizations managing more than 1,000 locations, and the company reported revenue increased fivefold in 2021 versus the prior year. Leasecake’s software helps teams track lease and insurance renewals, safety inspections, business licenses, and collaborate with service providers to assemble accurate financials and speed transactions. The company plans to more than double headcount over the next 18 months, create new platform offerings, and expand further into Europe and Latin America. Leasecake is based in Orlando, Fla. Leasecake is a cloud-based SaaS application that serves as the sole source of truth for lease and location information, with a primary focus on multi-unit tenants and tenant-rep brokers. The platform supports underserved small- to mid-sized enterprises by providing proactive notifications for mission-critical, time-sensitive events and simplifying collaboration across distributed teams. Early adopters were retail tenants, and the customer base expanded to include office, medical, and corporate users moving off legacy systems. Leasecake’s functionality includes tracking renewal options, expirations, critical lease clauses, business licenses, insurance renewals, inspections, and maintenance contracts. The company emphasizes helping SMEs achieve operational efficiencies comparable to larger enterprises, especially as many adopt remote-first structures. Leasecake raised capital in a seed round to fund its next product iteration and customer/business development activities.