Owner raises $240M for its restaurant management platform

Owner.com Inc., a startup specializing in restaurant management platforms, has successfully raised $240 million in funding for its innovative technology. Goldman Sachs led the Series D round of investment, with backing from Meritech, Redpoint, Headline, and Benchmark partner Jack Altman, Sam Altman's brother. The company is now valued at $2.3 billion.

Owner's platform aims to simplify restaurant operations through various features, particularly in marketing efforts. The software can quickly create a restaurant website, complete with essential elements such as a menu, catering order forms, and promotional widgets. The system then fine-tunes the website to improve search rankings.

Beyond website creation, the platform encourages customers to leave positive Google Maps reviews and ensures that restaurant listings on third-party platforms like Uber Eats, TripAdvisor, and Yelp remain up-to-date.

A major aspect of Owner's offerings is order management. The company provides a tablet, known as the Kitchen Tablet, for restaurant staff to handle in-venue orders, make purchase adjustments, and process gift cards. This device also functions as a website management tool for updating menus. Additionally, Owner sells a point-of-sale system that displays upsell offers during customer purchases and prompts diners to download the restaurant's app. The app includes a loyalty program to increase customer repeat purchases.

Furthermore, Owner provides a second app for restaurant operators to manage daily operations, such as issuing refunds, notifying customers about order delays, and handling deliveries. A sales dashboard displays the restaurant's performance data from the past day and its most popular courses. Owner has integrated artificial intelligence into its platform, enabling automatic phone order handling and generating promotional campaigns for popular menu items.

CEO Adam Guild emphasized the competitive advantage Owner provides to local restaurants, stating, "Now, for the first time, local restaurants have the same tech advantages as the huge chains they compete with." With annualized recurring revenue surpassing $100 million before the funding round, Owner plans to expand its reach by onboarding more restaurants, entering the grocery market, and making its software available internationally.