SimpleOrder raises $2.75 million to automate restaurant supply chains

SimpleOrder has raised $2.75 million in a first round of funding to help restaurants manage their supply chain with a cloud-based platform.

The Tel Aviv, Israel-based company recognizes that 50 percent of restaurants fail within their first 12 months, and many don’t have a systematic way of tracking their inventory on digital platforms.

To date, the company has raised $3.7 million. The round was led by Lazarus Israel Opportunities Fund and Foodlab Capital, with participation from existing investors Cyrus Angel Fund and private angel investors.

The company also announced today the release of its Automated Inventory System, a platform that calculates and manages inventory levels in real time, based on purchasing and sales.

The restaurant industry remains almost unique in the retail world for its lack of systematic, digitized inventory tracking — leaving many managers and chefs in the dark regarding their real-time inventory. Many restaurants still handle stock counts with pen and paper — usually when it’s too late to make critical adjustments or correct costly, profit-slashing mistakes, such as over-ordering, over-portioning, and leakage.

The SimpleOrder Automated Inventory System digitizes and streamlines a restaurant’s entire “Back-to Front” operations — from purchasing and managing suppliers to inventory tracking and recipe costing to point of sale. The SimpleOrder system automatically deducts from inventory each time a dish is sold, tracking stock levels digitally and streamlining purchasing in real time. This enables small to medium-sized restaurants and chains to gain control over food costs and improve their bottom line. Customers have reported saving up to 30 work-hours per month and have improved profit margins between 5 and 8 percent.

Above: SimpleOrder helps restaurants track their supply chain.

Image Credit: SimpleOrder

The Automated Restaurant Inventory System is available on desktop and mobile devices. The application (iOS, Android) is easy to use and allows restaurant management and suppliers to connect and communicate easily and efficiently, the company said.

In the past six months, SimpleOrder has tripled its international clients, and it is currently serving more than 1,500 locations, including leading restaurants, chains, and suppliers in 14 countries, principally in the U.S., U.K., and the German-speaking markets.

“We’re digitizing the Back of the House, bringing restaurants into the Cloud-based age,” said Guy Even Ezra, SimpleOrder cofounder and CEO, in a statement. “We knew that the industry desperately needed a solution designed specifically to help managers streamline their inventory and purchasing operations. Most restaurants have no idea what’s in stock or how much their menu items really cost. Our solution counts each grain of food, so you don’t have to. We’re allowing restaurants to thrive and chefs to get back what they do best — making great food.”

The secure iOS and Android apps allow chefs and managers to place purchase orders anytime, anywhere. Restaurants can also add an unlimited number of users to the company’s account, allowing all staff members to easily place orders and track inventory, in tandem.

“SimpleOrder provides enterprise-level capabilities to restaurants and chains of all sizes, which greatly increases their likelihood of success,” said Justin Borus, managing director of Lazarus Israel Opportunities Fund, in a statement. “We believe SimpleOrder’s solution will have a huge impact on the restaurant industry, especially on SMBs, which have found traditional restaurant technology too expensive and difficult to implement.”

SimpleOrder was founded in 2012, and it has 27 employees. Rivals are MarketMan and Sourcery.