Pandemic helps Ordr’s simple POS platform for bars and restaurants raise $12M

“Order and pay” platform for bars and restaurants Ordr has raised a €10 million ($12 million) Series A round from Idekapital and OpenOcean.

Launched in Norway in 2020 it now counts IKEA, Nordic Choice, REKOM and Color Line as customers. The company is now launching in Sweden, Finland, Denmark and the United Kingdom. Ordr’s competitors include FlipDish, Onvi.com and WeOrder.

Ordr has a platform for digital menus, order placement and payment which, it claims, increases sales and reduces queues at bars and restaurants.

Its branded phone solution consists of a “virtual POS,” replacing existing POS for restaurants and hotels to take orders and payment. The waiter can also use it. The company says customers don’t have to download a new app, while hotels and pubs can do deals with local restaurants and offer their menus on site.

Founder and CEO Edwin Fjeldtvedt said: “Contrary to cash register systems that charge far too much and locks customers in, we’ve created the next generation cash register system that eliminates the need for old-fashioned POS systems and makes them virtual. At the same time, we’ve created an entirely new customer journey with the guest in the center based on the experience they are seeking.” He added that the app “took off” when the pandemic demanded new infection-control measures in the hotel, restaurant and catering industry.

Kristian Øvsthus, managing partner at Idekapital, said: “We have really been impressed by the vision, solution, management and the people they recruit as well as implementation ability.”

Patrik Backman, general partner, OpenOcean said: “Ordr has proven that their platform works very well, is a scalable solution that is applicable across a multitude of markets, and the company is now in a great place for an international venture. The catering industry desperately needs a new technology to stay competitive in the future and this is it.”