Investment will fuel global expansion and R&D as hospitality digitalization booms
Flipdish, the leading international online ordering and digital experience platform for hospitality, has received a c.$100m investment led by Tencent. The funding values the company at over $1.25bn and follows a $48.5m investment from Tiger Global Management in February 2021.
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The investment will be used to grow global operations, fund R&D in products that improve the hospitality industry’s digital experience for consumers, and support new customers like hotels, stadiums, movie theaters, and airports.
Founded by brothers Conor and James McCarthy in 2015, Flipdish allows hospitality businesses to deliver seamless consumer digital experiences which drive business growth. The unicorn provides technology that powers QR code ordering & payment at the table, online ordering for pick-up and delivery, self-service kiosks, customer loyalty programs, and digital marketing.
Conor McCarthy, Co-Founder and CEO of Flipdish comments: “Digitization has been transforming the hospitality sector for years. The ongoing pandemic has further accelerated the trend with hospitality businesses becoming increasingly dependent on digital experiences to attract and retain customers. Our investment will help us to empower more hospitality businesses around the world to grow with the best-in-class technology.”
McCarthy continues: “Tencent is our ideal partner with its track record of supporting food delivery companies. Armed with Tencent’s insight and experience, Flipdish will be supercharged in 2022.”
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Tencent will join existing Flipdish investors Tiger Global, Global Founders Capital, Elkstone, Enterprise Ireland and Growing Capital.
Flipdish operates in 25 countries, including the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, and the United Kingdom, with thousands of independent restaurant customers as well as major brands, such as All Day Kitchens and Popchew. Flipdish also works with some of the world’s largest ghost kitchen companies, which partner with the likes of TGI Friday’s, White Castle, Dickey’s BBQ Pit, and many more.
Flipdish has seen rapid revenue growth across multiple markets in 2021, fueled by restaurant operators bringing their online ordering capability in-house, rather than relying on food delivery marketplaces like UberEats & Doordash, the rapid adoption of their on-premise solutions like QR Code Order & Pay and Self-Order Kiosks, and the growth of exciting new verticals like ghost kitchens.
The company particularly takes pride in the fact that the platform empowers restaurants to keep money in local economies, eliminating the exorbitant fees charged by marketplace services. When restaurants succeed, Flipdish succeeds.
As part of the investment, Flipdish will be hiring 700 people in 2022. The majority are technology roles such as software architects, data scientists, engineers, and product designers. Others include a host of commercial roles.