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Merivale kingpin Justin Hemmes is backing restaurant ordering app me&u, and plans to roll it out across his company's venues
Food ordering and payment app me&u has secured $8 million in Series B funding.
The app has also received support from Merivale CEO Justin Hemmes, who will include it across the company's restaurants in early 2020.
Joining him in supporting me&u is payments platform Tyro Payments, led by chief executive officer Robbie Cooke, who will join the company's board.
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me&u has another big-name supporter.
The app uses a beacon and near-field communication technology to order and pay for your meal on your phone while you're at a restaurant, cutting out the process of having to flag down a waiter.
Developed by Dimmi founder Stevan Premutico, me&u attracted several high profile investors including Uber Australia Co-founder, Mike Abbott, former LinkedIn APAC Managing Director Cliff Rosenberg and ex-Google Australia Managing Director Jason Pellegrino.
Since its launch earlier this year, me&u has rolled out across several restaurants including The Rockpool Group – which owns Bar Patron, The Opera Bar, El Camino, Barangaroo House and Beerhaus by Bavarian.
Now the app has secured $8 million in Series B funding and added Merivale CEO Justin Hemmes to its list of supporters. Joining him in supporting me&u is payments platform Tyro Payments, led by chief executive officer Robbie Cooke. It is Tyro's first investment in a startup.
Hemmes has agreed to roll out the app across his venues in early 2020.
“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," Hemmes said in a statement. "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.”
Merivale owns a stable of restaurants, bars and pubs including Mr Wong, Coogee Pavilion Rooftop and ivy. Hemmes (and his family) are ranked 88th on the Australian Financial Review's Rich List, earning $1.06 billion.
"Justin is a visionary in the hospitality industry and we will welcome his active engagement in our venture," Premutico said.
On top of the added funds, Tyro Payments CEO Robbie Cooke has joined me&u's board of directors. Tyro Payments will also become the main payment provider for the app.
"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,” Premutico added.
