Restaurant rewards platform Seated announced today it has raised $30 million in fresh funds. The round was led by Insight Partners with participation from Craft Ventures, Greycroft, and Rho Capital Partners.
The company also announced it has acquired digital event booking company VenueBook. The acquisition will allow restaurants to offer consumers and businesses rewards for booking private events, according to a press release sent to The Spoon. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Like most other restaurant tech companies out there, Seated has been repositioning itself ever since the pandemic forced the industry to shift to off-premise formats like takeout and delivery. Originally, the platform allowed customers to book a table at a restaurant ahead of time and earn rewards, which could then be spent on in-person food and wine classes or gift cards to Amazon, Sephora, Airbnb, and other brands.
When the pandemic hit, Seated added Seated at Home to its roster, which lets customers order delivery and takeout through the app.
With the acquisition of VenueBook, Seated now also offers Seated Events. Both individual customers and businesses can now get the aforementioned rewards for booking private events — anything from a birthday party to a corporate holiday party — at participating restaurants.
It remains to be seen how popular Seated Events proves in the current times. By state mandates, many restaurants are still operating at reduced capacity, and large gatherings are banned. That doesn’t necessarily include birthday parties at restaurants, but whether consumers even want to invite 20 of their closes friends to congregate in a single space is uncertain.
What is certain is that restaurant tech companies are having to diversify to stay relevant in these turbulent times. Seated’s addition of both its at-home platform and this event platform will allow the company to reach a wider audience than it would have with just its dining room app. Seated said in today’s press release it will use the new funds to further build out its platform and develop new products.
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