Mr Yum, an Australian tech start-up that specialises in QR Code food ordering at pubs and restaurants has secured $11m in post-seed funding from high-profile hospitality investors.
Industry investors include Australian Venue Co, and Myles Munro and Daragh Kan from 100 Burgers Group. The $11m investment round was led by Brisbane venture firm TEN13, with AirTree taking the other major position. High profile representatives from the entertainment industry were also keen backers.
Over the last 12 months Mr Yum has seen massive 27x business growth and now employs 65 full-time staff. The business now has more than 10 million users around the world and processes hundreds of millions of food and beverage transactions.
Kim Teo, CEO and Co-Founder at Mr Yum, said: “We’ve grown rapidly in Australia, and we will now use this leadership position to establish a foot-print in the UK and the US. The industry is hurting from what’s happened in the past year – our mission is to give them the best tools available to recover and grow, in the same way Shopify did for the retail industry during the last market collapse.
“We’ve been strategic in choosing investors who have a proven track record for global expansion. On top of TEN13 and AirTree, our partners are highly respected hospitality, entertainment and tech leaders.
“With these top-tier investors in our corner and the traction we’ve gained over the past 12 months, we’ve created a really strong base to build from – but we’re only just getting started. Our Series A investment round is also in the works, which will allow us to keep pushing the boundaries on product innovation and fuel our global expansion.”
She added: “As part of the financing, lead investor TEN13’s Stew Glynn recently joined Mr Yum’s board.”
Glynn said: “[We] saw early that Kim, Adrian, Kerry & Andrei had built a special product offering leveraging the power of QR codes to deliver a unique and improved dining experience. Mr Yum’s offering has been especially powerful for venues and industry workers – allowing them to return stronger post lockdowns.
“We’re now watching Mr Yum expand into wider verticals like stadiums, airports, shopping malls, festivals and more, and already closing significant contracts within their global launch markets.”
The investment in Mr Yum represents the largest deal completed by TEN13’s venture syndicate to date and Glynn added: “We’re very excited to support a quality team like Mr Yum and their ambitious plans. Plus, our significant syndicate investor support is a credit to the potential of the company – its great culture, exciting product and growth of the business.”
AirTree Partner, James Cameron, added: “We’re thrilled to partner with the Mr Yum team to support the evolution of the hospitality and entertainment industry. Mr Yum is one of the fastest growing start-ups we’ve ever worked with. And, what’s more impressive is that the majority of that growth has come from organic, word of mouth acquisition.
“This is what happens when you build a product that makes businesses more profitable, but also makes their customers rave about the experience to their friends.”
Mr Yum is now used in over 1100 venues, and has a proven track record in helping venues increase average customer spend by 20-40 per cent.