Notch Raises $10M to Help Restaurants Go Digital

Notch has raised $10 million in its efforts to help the hospitality sector go digital.

The company, which makes software for the food service industry, announced the funding — led by investment platform Portage — in a news release Thursday (Jan. 18). It comes as the restaurant industry is stepping up its efforts to drive digitization.

“As our team continues to unlock digital payments and financial solutions for the foodservice industry, which has been predominantly offline, Portage’s belief that B2B Commerce is coming online aligns perfectly with our own,” Notch CEO Jordan Huck said in the release.

The company says it will use the new funding to hire staff for its sales and marketing teams and fuel its geographic expansion. It’s also planning to introduce an accounts payable tool to help restaurants move their supply chain payments online.

That follows 2022’s debut of notchPay, a B2B payments platform for the food and beverage sector that launched in March of last year.

As PYMNTS reported earlier this month, many restaurants have begun to focus on immediate, practical technological solutions in the face of continued inflation.

Speaking to PYMNTS, Rick Stanbridge, executive vice president and chief information officer of Marco’s Pizza, discussed the need to get more grounded when it comes to innovation.

“Technology for technology’s sake is over,” Stanbridge said. “Smart investments in technology that can deliver immediate results will be the winning strategy in the years ahead. This might come in the form of technologies that can save on labor, make it easier for guests to order and pay, etc.”

Restaurants can’t afford to wait. The combination of rising food prices and wage inflation has many eateries facing margin difficulties that need to be addressed immediately.

Research from PYMNTS’ study “Main Street Health Q3 2022: SMBs Battle Inflation,” which used data from a July survey of 533 U.S. businesses, showed that the number of hospitality businesses in danger of closing in the next couple of years nearly doubled between last year’s first and third quarters.

Stanbridge told PYMNTS his industry isn’t immune to these troubles.

“Economic challenges including inflation, labor and supply chain have impacted everyone in the QSR pizza industry in 2022,” he said.