Restaurant management platform MarginEdge will expand its offering after raising $45 million.
The company said Wednesday (Dec. 7) that this Series C round more than doubles its funding. It’s also happening at a time when new technology has become increasingly important as the restaurant industry evolves.
Based in Arlington, Va., MarginEdge offers a platform that includes functions like “invoice processing, inventory management, recipe analysis, budgeting, performance tracking, and supplier bill payment capabilities,” the company said in a news release.
The firm will use the funding to continue scaling its team and broadening the functionality of its product to deepen its impact on customers.
“Our north star has always been empowering operators with technology and real-time data to make more informed decisions and getting them back to doing the part of the job they love,” MarginEdge Co-founder and CEO Bo Davis said in the release.
“In the current environment, and with everything the restaurant community has had to navigate these last few years, this mission has never been more important.”
As PYMNTS noted recently, automation is going to become increasingly important as the restaurant industry changes and grows.
Some of this automation can include replacing front-of-house workers like drive-thru attendants or baristas, but the largest bang for restaurants’ buck would come from automating back-of-house work, such as inventory tracking, ordering and payments.
Our research found that more than 75% of restaurants use three or more automated tools, such as automated payroll, payments, and pricing. Nearly one-third of restaurants surveyed by PYMNTS reported that they had mostly or fully automated these operations.
Among other functions, these technologies have been demonstrated to make ordering more accurate, cut down on food waste and improve restaurant margins.
And the need for automated and unified restaurant functionalities has been recognized by providers around the world, leading to an explosion in the value of the restaurant management software market. Experts project that this industry will reach $17.3 billion by 2031, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.9% over the next decade.