Upserve Explained

Upserve, Inc.
Type:Subsidiary
Key People:Angus Davis, Josh Kopelman, and Reid Hoffman
Industry:Point of sale
Products:Restaurant point of sale
Foundation:2009
Location:Providence, Rhode Island

Upserve, originally Swipely, provides a restaurant management platform which allows independent full-service restaurants to run and manage their entire business. The Platform is made up of restaurant-specific point of sale (POS) software, payments, and analytics, online ordering, loyalty, and marketing tools designed specifically for restaurants. At the center of the Upserve Platform is the cloud-based Upserve POS, a point of sale system that Upserve acquired from Groupon in 2016.[1]

In 2013, Forbes magazine included Swipely in its list of the top 100 “America’s Most Promising Companies.”[2] Upserve's former CEO, Angus Davis, was named to Forbes list of “America’s Most Promising CEOs Under 35.”[3] In 2017, Upserve received a nine-figure investment from Vista Equity Partners to accelerate the platform's growth.[4]

History and services

Upserve, formerly Swipely, was founded in 2009 by Angus Davis, the co-founder of Tellme Networks, which was acquired by Microsoft in 2007.[5] [6] [7] Swipely was formerly a social network in which members shared their purchases with friends.[8] [9] [10]

In February 2011, Swipely evolved into a loyalty platform for local merchants to reward repeat customers.[11] In 2016, Swipely acquired Breadcrumb POS from Groupon and re-branded to Upserve in order to reflect its offering of a comprehensive management system for the restaurant industry.[12]

In 2017, Upserve expanded its Restaurant Management Platform by offering integrated online ordering through a partnership with Grubhub, as well as its own online ordering solution.[13] In 2018, Upserve partnered with Resy to produce an industry-first POS integration to streamline reservations and table management.[14] Additionally, it introduced Upserve Marketplace, which is a curated hub of integrated restaurant technology for its customers to tie together disparate systems.[15]

In 2020, Upserve was acquired by Lightspeed.[16]

Financials and expansion

The Providence start-up[17] was the first Rhode Island–based software company to raise $7.5 million in Series A venture capital.[18] In 2013, Upserve secured a $12 million Series B investment led by Shasta Ventures and raised a $20 million Series C led by the Pritzker Group[19] bringing the total funds raised to $40.5 million.[20]

In July 2017, Upserve received a strategic investment of more than $100 million from Vista Equity Partners.[21] As of spring of 2018, thousands of restaurants use Upserve to manage relationships with more than 57 million active diners, process over $12 billion in annual sales, and serve over 36 million meals per month.

In 2018, Upserve opened an office in Denver adding to its existing office locations in San Francisco and New York, along with headquarters in Providence, RI.[22]

In July 2018, Upserve announced the acquisition of Israel-based inventory management platform SimpleOrder.[23]

Recognition

Swipely was named one of Forbes magazine's “America’s Most Promising Companies” in 2013.[2] The company is the first Rhode Island–based firm on this Forbes list.[24] CEO Davis has also been included on the Forbes list of “America’s Most Promising CEOs Under 35.”[3]

Upserve has been featured in New York Times, Forbes, CBS This Morning, Wall Street Journal,[25] Inc., Entrepreneur, Boston Globe,[26] Thrillist, BostInno,[27] Quartz and RestaurantInsider.

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. http://www.chicagotribune.com/bluesky/originals/ct-groupon-breadcrumb-upserve-bsi-20160509-story.html "Groupon sells restaurant-tech business Breadcrumb to Upserve"
  2. https://www.forbes.com/companies/swipely/ “America’s Most Promising Companies.”
  3. https://web.archive.org/web/20130209192311/http://www.forbes.com/pictures/elld45jgdk/angus-davis-34-swipely/ “America’s Most Promising CEOs Under 35.”
  4. https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucerogers/2017/08/28/angus-davis-builds-upserve-to-serve-as-management-platform-for-americas-one-million-restaurants/#64a13e0f6858 "Angus Davis Builds Upserve To Serve As Management Platform For America's One Million Restaurants"
  5. News: All Things D. Swipely Nabs $7.5 Million in Series A Funding for Social Spending (And to Attack Blippy!). Kara Swisher. Kara Swisher. 2010-05-11.
  6. News: NPR Marketplace. Social shopping sites high in data value. Sally Herships . 2010-06-02.
  7. News: Microsoft Purchase Of Tellme Adds Voice To Web Initiative. The Wall Street Journal. March 15, 2007. 2009-06-01. Vara. Vauhini.
  8. News: TechCrunch. You Could See Swipely's $7.5 Million Round On Blippy, But You Won't On Swipely. MG Siegler. 2010-05-11.
  9. News: The Wall Street Journal. Swipely Enters the Social Shopping Field. Brad Stone. 2010-05-11.
  10. News: The Washington Post. In shoppers' online networks, privacy has no price tag. Ylan Q. Mui. 2010-05-22.
  11. Alspach, Kyle. “Swipely vs. LevelUp: Battle in Boston Over Customer Loyalty Tech.” Boston Business Journal. Dec. 15, 2011
  12. Web site: Providence's data company Swipely now Upserve, reflecting focus on restaurateurs. Bramson. Kate. The Providence Journal. 2016-03-17.
  13. http://www.chicagotribune.com/bluesky/originals/ct-grubhub-oracle-hospitality-integration-bsi-20170517-story.html "Grubhub pairs with Oracle Hospitality to streamline orders"
  14. https://techcrunch.com/2018/04/17/resy-rolls-out-a-new-suite-of-tools-for-restaurants/ "Resy rolls out a new suite of tools for restaurants"
  15. https://www.fastcasual.com/news/upserve-offers-seamless-online-ordering-via-partnership-with-breadcrumb-pos/ "Upserve offers seamless online ordering"
  16. Web site: Lightspeed Announces Acquisition of Upserve to Further Omnichannel Revolution of American Restaurant Industry. 2021-03-10. Lightspeed HQ.
  17. Nesi, Ted. "Executive Suite." WPRI Eyewitness News. Dec. 31, 2012
  18. Lacy, Sarah. “Swipely Is Processing $250m in Payments all from Tiny Rhode Island.” Pando Daily. Dec. 7, 2012
  19. http://fortune.com/2016/05/09/term-sheet-monday-may-9/ "Term Sheet -- Monday, May 9, 2016"
  20. http://www.providencejournal.com/news/20170706/upserve-providences-restaurant-tech-firm-lands-major-investment "Upserve, Providence’s restaurant-tech firm, lands major investment"
  21. http://www.providencejournal.com/news/20170726/competitor-of-ri-restaurant-tech-firm-upserve-raises-101m-in-financing "Competitor of R.I. restaurant tech firm Upserve raises $101M in financing"
  22. https://businessden.com/2018/03/13/restaurant-tech-firm-sets-denver-place/ "Restaurant tech firm sets up at Denver Place"
  23. https://www.americaninno.com/rhodeisland/rhode-island-startup/upserve-acquires-inventory-management-platform/ "Upserve Acquires Inventory Management Platform"
  24. McGowan, Dan. “Providence-based Swipely Named to Forbes’ List of America’s 'Most Promising Companies'" WNAC-TV. Feb. 8, 2013
  25. http://webreprints.djreprints.com/4143120516315.html "Vista Invests in Restaurant Software Provider Upserve"
  26. https://www.bostonglobe.com/magazine/2016/05/26/how-restaurants-know-what-you-want-eat-before-you/hnZHM3xCkL1BhX0PKL3tmM/story.html "How restaurants know what you want to eat before you do"
  27. https://www.americaninno.com/boston/upserve-gets-more-funding-boston-flying-car-company-acquired/ "Upserve Gets More Funding"

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