Have you ever been waiting for your order at a restaurant and all the sudden mayhem erupts behind the counter as takeout orders pour in from apps like Grubhub and Seamless? It’s a chaotic sight, to say the least. LA startup Ordermark tackles this challenge for restaurant owners by directing all incoming orders onto a centralized management platform, enabling restaurants to easily add and manage third-party online ordering services, maximizing restaurant profits while enhancing the customer experience. The idea to streamline the takeout process and introduce analytics is the brainchild of founder Alex Canter, who understands this struggle firsthand from his previous restaurant experience with his family business.
LA TechWatch sat down with Alex to discuss what makes Ordermark so critical and its latest round of funding, which brings the total funding amount raised to $12.6M over four rounds.
Who were your investors and how much did you raise?
We raised a $9.5M Series A round, led by Nosara Capital, with support from Vertical Venture Partners, Techstars Ventures, Riverpark Ventures, and Matchstick Ventures, with follow-on investment from previous investors TenOneTen Ventures, Act One Ventures, Mucker Capital, and AARD Capital.
Tell us about your product or service that Ordermark offers.
Ordermark simplifies online ordering to help restaurants increase profits and lower expenses. Through its technology platform and professional services, the company enables restaurants to easily add and manage multiple third-party online ordering services, like GrubHub and Postmates, to maximize their online ordering potential.
What inspired you to start Ordermark?
I experienced this issue first hand at my family’s restaurant Canter’s Deli. My family had signed up for 14 online ordering services, each one bringing incremental revenue into our business. Online ordering quickly became over 30% of our business, however, each platform was designed independently which created operational challenges. We had 9 tablets, 2 laptops, and a fax machine just to manage all the incoming orders, and it became a trainwreck. I wanted to fix this problem for not only my restaurant but all restaurants.
How is Ordermark different?
Ordermark is a single point of contact for all online ordering needs. Our dashboard provides cross-platform analytics, which allows restaurants to make updates across each provider from a single place. We provide restaurants with a fully comprehensive end-to-end online ordering fulfillment solution that allows restaurants to crank out orders without thinking about all of the complicated logistics involved with delivery fulfillment.
What market are you targeting and how big is it?
There are 1M restaurants in America alone. We are confident that any restaurant in the delivery coverage radius of the third-parties will need the Ordermark solution. There are over 180 online ordering systems, from local to national players, and most brick and mortar restaurants are in the process of transitioning to adopt online ordering and staying alive in the digital age. Ordermark is here to facilitate the transition and prepare restaurants with the proper tools to succeed.
What’s your business model?
We charge restaurants a monthly subscription to use Ordermark. Our product offering starts as low as $99/month with a small fee per order.
What are the most popular ordering platforms for restaurants and how do you use the data that you collect from restaurants to enhance your platform?
The big 4 are Ubereats, GrubHub, Doordash, and Postmates. We take the data that we collect and spin it up for our restaurants to have full visibility and oversight of their online ordering business from a single dashboard. Our ultimate goal is to help as many restaurants say yes to online ordering.
What was the funding process like?
As we were going through Techstars Boulder, we were approached by many investors. We were looking to set up a well-balanced group of investors that really cared about the problem we were solving and tried to avoid those that were looking to sprinkle a roulette table. I ended up taking hundreds of investor meetings, making sure we found outstanding personality matches.
What are the biggest challenges that you faced while raising capital?
We ended up becoming oversubscribed towards the end of the fundraising process, and it was unpleasant having to say no to people who were looking to get their checks in. While it sounds like a great problem to have, it was difficult to choose because we like everyone involved.
What factors about your business led your investors to write the check?
Since launching in 2017, Ordermark has added hundreds of independent and chain customers throughout the United States. Customers include TGI Friday’s, Qdoba, Veggie Grill, Dickey’s Barbecue Pit, Yogurtland, Johnny Rockets, and Sonic. Ultimately, the investors believed in the team to execute on our vision of making a difference in the restaurant industry.
What are the milestones you plan to achieve in the next six months?
We are most excited about ramping up our team and continuing to rollout our product nationwide with some of the largest brands in the world. We have many meaningful KPI’s for each department, but most importantly we are looking to continue providing great customer service and scaling!
What advice can you offer companies in Los Angeles that do not have a fresh injection of capital in the bank?
Surround yourself with a strong network of advisors, mentors, and other investors who can help guide you through spending allocation and budgeting. There are a lot of unknown costs that will pop-up out of the blue, so make sure to stay lean!
Surround yourself with a strong network of advisors, mentors, and other investors who can help guide you through spending allocation and budgeting. There are a lot of unknown costs that will pop-up out of the blue, so make sure to stay lean!
Where do you see the company going now over the near term?
We are going to continue building a great business by adding partners and integrations. We already have product-market fit, now it’s time to throw fuel on the fire and continue our growth.
Where is the best place in LA to watch the sunset?
I prefer sunrises, but Yamashiro in Hollywood would probably be my favorite for the sunset.
