EatStreet recently secured $6 million in Series B investment funding. The investment will be used to expand into additional markets, double our workforce, and remain at the vanguard of technological development.
Founded in 2010 by then-University of Wisconsin students, we’ve grown into one of the nation’s largest and most technologically advanced online food ordering services. Now in their mid-twenties, our leaders launched the business as BadgerBites and won the University of Wisconsin’s G. Steven Burrill Business Plan Competition.
“Four years ago, we realized there was a gap between tech-savvy college students and mom-and-pop restaurants. We wanted to empower them to better reach young customers and compete with the big guys,” said our CEO and co-founder Matt Howard, who graduated from UW in 2011 with a degree in economics. Co-founders Eric Martell and Alex Wyler both studied computer science.
Our first office was a five-bedroom house on Orchard Street. As the number of restaurants grew, so did the hours of data entry. To make sure restaurants’ needs were met in a timely fashion, the team would throw data entry parties, inviting over friends to help with the new business and rewarding them with free food.
Part of the $6 million Series B investment funding will go toward enhancing the customer ordering experience. “We’ve challenged ourselves with a very aggressive product roadmap, placing a strong emphasis on mobile. To start, our iPhone and Android apps, as well as our mobile website are all getting revamped,” added Howard. To accomplish our goals, we’ve doubled our development team, which now includes talented engineers from both Facebook and Google.
“Since day one, we’ve continuously evolved. Staying true to our mission of offering intuitive ordering solutions and unparalleled customer service, we’ve become something much more,” said Howard. “We’re also a marketing engine that drives local commerce by connecting restaurants with hungry customers in exciting new ways. This investment will empower us to push more boundaries and tackle more challenges. Specifically some strategic partnerships we’re finalizing that will help us unlock new avenues for growth and customer acquisition.”
We recently moved into a brand new 9,000 square-foot office overlooking Madison’s picturesque Lake Monona. This space will accommodate plans to double our workforce in 2014.
“We absolutely love doing business in Madison,” Howard said. “It’s a young, tech-driven city within striking distance of some much larger markets. We love watching our restaurants’ success, especially those we regularly eat at ourselves.”