Ever place an online, computer-based order for pizza delivery? Probably not. A mere 5% of consumers have ordered delivery or takeout food on computers, preferring their phones for food orders. DC-based Tkout (pronounced "takeout") is seizing a piece of the $67B delivery and takeout food opportunity.
The startup, founded last year, just launched a partner platform that allows any site with food content like a blog or a news site with restaurant reviews to include an embedded “order now” button for carryout or delivery. Tkout’s patent-pending technology takes the user directly to that eatery’s ordering page. Tkout also recently partnered with Judy’s Book, a social search and online yellow pages directory, to provide online ordering for its over 1 million eateries.
The four-person company’s strategy has been to partner with websites, apps, search engines and general interest directories, all where people look for restaurants, to add an online ordering button for food delivery and takeout. Tkout co-founder Adam Roussos (above) says the startup is generating revenue through orders or by bringing customers to sites like GrubHub. So far it’s built a network of over 50,000 restaurants and sees over 3 million unique views per month.
Adam, taking a break from takeout at his favorite restaurant, says the startup raised a seed round last year and plans to raise another round this year because of its momentum over the last few months. The biggest challenge is trying to keep up with the demand for new partnerships and figuring out new ways of reaching consumers. An iOS version will hit the app store next week and the startup is talking to hotels about offering virtual room service.
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