Velocity, a lifestyle app enabling restaurant diners to pay and earn rewards right from their mobile devices, secured one of the largest Series A funding rounds for a U.K.-based company yesterday (June 29) when it closed $12 million from an international group of angel investors.
“Velocity empowers restaurants to turn the point of payment into a point of engagement as part of their own loyalty programs,” Alex Macdonald, Velocity co-founder, co-CEO and ex-turnaround CEO said in a company statement. “Velocity makes dining out more personal and efficient for both the customer and restaurant, freeing-up waiting staff to focus on attending to diners during service, increasing footfall and providing feedback from every customer. The results for our restaurant partners are transformative, with spend per head increasing by a double-digit percentage.”
The company’s focus of modernizing the hospitality industry for the affluent millennial demographic may continue to pay off. Velocity partners reported a 14 percent increase in the average amount of money spent by people using the app.
The London-based company is looking to build on this momentum by utilizing the new funding to accelerate international expansion and capitalize on the growing demand from prestige hospitality groups and customers.
“We’re pioneering a superior, more efficient hospitality experience in partnership with the world’s leading Michelin-starred and international prestige restaurant groups,” noted Zia Yusuf, Velocity co-founder and co-CEO. “With Velocity transactions growing 20 percent weekly, and a third of transactions already from repeat customers, it’s clear that affluent customers’ expectations are changing.”
The app and its services are currently expanding to over 300 venues, with plans to launch in thousands of establishments across major hospitality cities globally by the end of 2016.
“As the world moves toward a cashless economy and mobile payments grow rapidly, Velocity is well placed to be the leading platform serving restaurant-goers and venues alike,” Tom Glocer, one of the company’s investors, said. “I backed Velocity because of the strong management team and Velocity’s unique combination of mobile payment, loyalty program and social network all integrated into the way top-end restaurants and other venues already work.”
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