E la Carte, a company that develops a tableside tablet for the restaurant and related hospitality industries, has raised $13.5 million in Series B funding led by Intel Capital with participation from Romulus Capital. The startup had previously raised over $5 million from Lightbank, SV Angel, Dave McClure, Joshua Schachter, and others.
E la Carte’s hardware for restaurants, called Presto, debuted last year to bring user-friendly tablets to restaurants. The 7-inch tablet includes a digital menu that lets you sift through the restaurant’s food and drink selections via photos and detailed descriptions using a touch-screen interface. There’s also a section for payments and games, including trivia and a drawing app.
Last year, the startup updated its hardware and software for a longer battery life, resilience to heavy restaurant use and spills and more.
For example, E la Carte redesigned the credit card reader for a more seamless swipe experience, and the LED light changes color based on table status (similar to the way you’d press the call button for a flight attendant on an airplane).
The company says that Presto helps restaurants achieve 10 percent sales boosts, 7-minute faster table turns, and 9X increases in loyalty program sign-ups. The company currently has thousands of tablets deployed, and is creating $1 million annually in value for installed restaurants. The tablets are processing over $6 million in orders and payments. Chain partners include Genghis Grill, global restaurateur HMSHost, and Evergreen Restaurant Group, a franchisee of Outback Steakhouse.
Founder Rajat Suri says that E la Carte will use the new investment to add additional product and sales staff. The company also plans to double down on adding personalization technologies to its consumer-facing ordering system.
As we’ve said in the past, Suri is betting that Presto represents the future of restaurants. It’s not just in the actual tablet hardware, but it’s also about using data to control what’s offered on the menu and being able to dynamically change menu options based on demand, inventory and more. Clearly, personalization of the ordering experience could be a game changer for any restaurant.