me&u, Australia’s mobile ordering & payment app for cafes, restaurants and bars, recently announced an AUD$8 million Series B funding round, as it sets itself up to expand interstate and enhance the product suite.
Merivale’s Justin Hemmes and Tyro Payments led by chief executive officer Robbie Cooke (previously CEO and managing director of Tatts Group and wotif.com) have thrown their weight behind the young start-up with Hemmes agreeing to roll out the product across his suitable venues and Cooke joining me&u’s board of directors.
What does this funding mean for me&u?
Founder of me&u Stevan Premutico (previous founder of restaurant booking app Dimmi) says, “This is a watershed moment for us. We’re now ready to deliver on our ambition of improving hospitality experiences, removing the friction of ordering & payment and boosting the efficiency of this great industry.”
“Merivale will play a key role to ensure we continue to design a solution that solves some of the industry’s biggest problems and helps to elevate the customer experience. Justin is a visionary in the hospitality industry and we will welcome his active engagement in our venture. Robbie and the Tyro team bring years of experience from being deeply connected as the payment provider for 8,500 hospitality venues across Australia so there is a very clear synergy. It’s an honour to have them both on this ride with us,” added Premutico.
This round of capital raising adds to an already impressive line-up of investors including Cliff Rosenberg (NED Afterpay, ex NED Dimmi, ex MD Linkedin APAC), William Easton (MD Facebook Australia, ex NED Dimmi), Jason Pellegrino (ex MD Google Aus, Domain CEO), Mike Abbott (co-founder Uber Australia), Tim Reed (President Business Council Australia, ex CEO MYOB), Neil Perry (celebrity chef) and John Szangolies (restaurant entrepreneur and founder of Urban Purveyor Group).
What next for me&u after this?
Early next year the roll-out of me&u will begin across Merivale venues and Tyro will also become the main payment provider for the app. Justin Hemmes said, “Two years ago when Stevan and I met for a coffee we discussed the friction of ordering & payment as being a big issue we wanted to solve. It’s great to be here now with an innovative and cutting-edge product that can help us further improve customer experiences in our venues. Staff will be able to better assist customers instead of spending time on payments and splitting bills. This is a huge industry wide issue.”
Robbie Cooke said, “I witnessed the growth and homegrown technology success of Dimmi for which I have enormous admiration. Tyro is one of the largest providers of payment and e-commerce solutions to restaurants and cafes making this partnership with Stevan compelling. Together we can continue to innovate and challenge the status quo and revolutionise the customer experience and drive great merchant outcomes.”
me&u is growing fast with the app now available at a number of Australia’s leading hospitality brands including The Rockpool Group, The Opera Bar, Fratelli Fresh, Colonial Leisure Group, The Golden Sheaf, El Camino, Barangaroo House, Beerhaus by Bavarian and The Sonoma Group. me&u is generating up to 50% uptake in venues and spend increases as high as 30% when customers use me&u. Combining the beauty of Instagram and the convenience of Uber, me&u is making the dining experience better, faster and more convenient than ever before. Customers can now turn up to a restaurant, bar or café and simply tap, order & pay with ease. No more hands in the air trying to catch the waiter’s attention, no more standing in a queue and no more time wasted splitting the bill.
“Our ambition is simple, but big. We want to make this industry better. Better for customers and operators, and it all starts with the way we order & pay. Change seems impossible until it’s done, but soon we will look back and think ‘I can’t believe I used to stand four deep in a queue to order a beer or wait five minutes to pay a bill’. This is the change we are trying to inspire across the country.” said Premutico.
