In a significant boost to its mission of digitizing restaurant customer management, Choice, the innovative B2B SaaS platform tailored for the restaurant industry, has successfully raised €2.3 million in a new investment round. Spearheaded by J&T Ventures, a venture capital fund based in Prague, the Late-Seed funding round also saw participation from previous backers, Reflex Capital and Presto Ventures, elevating the startup's total funding to an impressive $4.1 million.
This influx of capital marks a pivotal moment for Choice, enabling it to expand its services into four additional Central and Eastern European markets while also consolidating its presence in its existing strongholds - Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia, and Ukraine. Having achieved a remarkable 300% growth over the last year and currently operating in eight countries, Choice is on a clear trajectory towards reshaping the restaurant industry landscape.
Choice's platform stands out by offering a comprehensive online subscription-based service that allows restaurants to seamlessly create websites and manage essential business tools under a unified system. This includes functionalities for website management, applications, online menus with QR payments, table reservations, CRM systems, and much more. Furthermore, Choice prides itself on its easy integration with popular POS systems and marketplaces such as Wolt, Bolt, Glovo, Foodora, and Uber Eats, ensuring a versatile and efficient operational framework for restaurants.
The vision behind Choice, as articulated by CEO and founder Alex Ilyash, is to address the glaring issue of customer anonymity in the restaurant sector. "99% of restaurants don’t know their customers," Ilyash pointed out, emphasizing the platform's role in digitizing customer bases to enhance retention and satisfaction. Choice's impact is already evident, with many establishments across Europe witnessing significant improvements in service quality through the adoption of digital tools.
A critical advantage of Choice lies in its ability to centralize all customer interaction channels onto a single platform, enabling restaurants to digitize around 80% of their customer base and gather valuable data on preferences, visit frequency, and more. Currently, Choice collaborates with over 16,000 restaurants globally, with 5,000 paying clients actively utilizing the platform. In 2023 alone, Choice facilitated over 2 million orders, amounting to $42M, through its partner restaurants. With a current monthly recurring revenue (MRR) exceeding $150,000, the company ambitiously aims to triple this figure to $450,000 by the end of 2024.
Presto Ventures' Founding Partner, Premysl Rubes, lauded Ilyash's leadership and strategic vision, attributing Choice's accelerated growth and market prominence in the CEE region to his capabilities. Similarly, Adam Kocik of J&T Ventures highlighted Choice's comprehensive product offering as a key differentiator in the market, positioning it as the premier choice for restaurants seeking a holistic management solution. Reflex Capital's Managing Partner, Ondrej Fryc, also expressed enthusiasm for Choice's continued growth and potential.
As Choice embarks on this next phase of expansion, the support and confidence of its investors underscore the platform's transformative potential in redefining restaurant management and customer engagement practices. With its comprehensive suite of services and strategic market expansion plans, Choice is well-positioned to lead the charge in the digital transformation of the restaurant industry.