KioskBuddy Raises $180K To Help Shorthanded Restaurants, Businesses Serve Customers
SaaS firm joins TinySeed accelerator to boost platform that provides restaurants and retailers
KioskBuddy, an app that enables restaurants, retailers, and other businesses to transform a tablet into a self-service kiosk, announced it raised $180,000 from the TinySeed accelerator program.
The funding and TinySeed’s support network will help KioskBuddy’s mission to help short-handed small businesses enable their customers to serve themselves at checkout, saving them money and allowing them to meet demand.
“TinySeed has allowed us to quit our jobs and for the first time in our lives, go all-in on running our own company,” said KioskBuddy co-founder Lisa Tran. “Being first-time founders, it’s a brand new learning experience for us that’s both thrilling and terrifying at the same time. Already in the past few months, one thing is clear: TinySeed’s mentorship has been crucial and we’re excited to grow KioskBuddy to new heights.”
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“As the pandemic showed us, businesses need tools that can help them meet customer demand. KioskBuddy is on their way to becoming the go-to solution for that need.”— Rob Walling, General Partner at TinySeed
Think of the KioskBuddy app as an extra set of hands that are always ready to work. Instead of assigning an employee to receive customer orders, the app turns a tablet into a self-service screen that enables patrons to place and pay for their own orders. Once an order is placed, a notification is sent to employees via email, physical receipts, or Fresh KDS.
In addition to boosting efficiency, KioskBuddy decreases queue times for customers, reduces employee costs, eliminates order errors, and provides managers peace of mind for employee no-shows.
“The KioskBuddy team has built a fantastic product for a market in desperate need of help,” said Rob Walling, General Partner at TinySeed. “As the pandemic showed us, businesses need tools that can help them meet customer demand. KioskBuddy is on their way to becoming the go-to solution for that need.”
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The KioskBuddy app has been particularly helpful for many food service and hospitality businesses that struggle to retain workers in the United States. About 73% of restaurants report a labor shortage and an average of 21% of positions are unfilled, according to the Square Future of Restaurants report.
In addition to helping short-handed businesses, KioskBuddy can save restaurants and cafes thousands of dollars per year. KioskBuddy’s savings calculator shows that its app can save a business about $30,000 per year when compared to a cashier earning $15/hour at 40 hours per week.
KioskBuddy was co-founded by Lisa Tran and Marvin Trajano, who recently were married and met in college during their first computer science course.
“A funny coincidence is that one of the group projects we worked on together in college was a program for displaying an electronic menu for food items,” Tran recalled. “Maybe the idea was in the back of our minds all these years.”
