Bentobox Continues to Connect the Hospitality Industry with $16.4M Series B
This morning, Bentobox, the mobile-first online presence for the restaurant and hospitality industry, announced their $16.4M Series B. The round was led by Threshold Ventures (formerly DFJ Ventures) with participation from Bullpen Capital, Haystack and Female Founders Fund, as well as restaurateur Will Guidara of Make it Nice and Eleven Madison Park.
Since launch in 2015, BentoBox has partnered with over 3,000 restaurants, with close to 100% retention rate. Female Founders Fund sat down with Krystle Mobayeni, co-founder and CEO, to discuss her inspiration in starting Bentobox, the challenges and opportunities she’s experienced as CEO, her vision for the company five years from now, and more.
Before starting BentoBox, you were in the design industry. What is the story behind your inspiration in starting the company?
That’s right. I spent most of my career as a web and product designer. I worked at a number of digital agencies before starting my own. During that time, I worked with many different brands and startups, including working on the website for a restaurant here in NYC. Through that experience, I became aware of a restaurant’s frustration with technology — specifically that they’ve given up their relationship with their guests, control of their brand online and, most importantly, revenue through third parties like OpenTable, Yelp and Seamless. Because their website was the only place they still had that control, this restaurant wanted to reclaim that guest relationship and revenue through their website. As a service provider, I wasn’t able to provide the exact solution at a cost that worked, and as other restaurants started approaching me to work on their websites — and had the same pain points — I saw there was a need for a platform that actually helps restaurants run their business online. That was the beginning of BentoBox.
Americans spent over $800B in restaurants in 2017/18, yet it still remains largely an industry dominated by SMB’s. What was your early experience like selling into the industry? Did you have any early wins that were helpful for your growth?
The restaurant industry is about sharing and community, so word of mouth goes a long way. In the early days, we got a few key, well-known restaurants in New York on board, and that was instrumental for our growth. Union Square Hospitality Group, The Meatball Shop and Happy Cooking Hospitality to name a few. We had “Powered by Bentobox” in the footers of the websites of these aspirational industry leaders, and that fueled our organic growth. We saw that same type of growth happening in other markets across the country. Once we started getting well-known restaurants in a particular market we saw a trickle-down effect where other restaurants in that area started contacting us to learn more. We also were and, still are, focused on providing exceptionally great customer service, which goes a long way in the hospitality industry. We treat restaurants the way they treat their guests.
How does the BentoBox product work for restaurants? What value does it provide for small and large restaurants?
We start with the restaurant’s website because it’s the only place online where they have complete control of their brand, customer relationship and revenue. What’s different about BentoBox is that it’s not a DIY platform like Squarespace or Wix. We know that restaurant owners don’t build websites, they’re busy running restaurants. We help them set up and design their web presence which reduces a lot of the initial friction of starting to use BentoBox.
On the website, we provide tools that help to convert website visitors to customers. For example, BentoBox has a suite of hospitality-focused revenue-driving features so that restaurants can sell gift cards, take catering orders, manage private event requests, and more. We also cover the basics, so they manage menus, post press, specials, events and other restaurant-specific content easily.
Ultimately, no matter how large or small the restaurant is, the website becomes an extension of their brick and mortar that’s helping them acquire and retain guests as well as drive actual revenue that makes an impact on their bottom line.
Sales is a crucial part of your business. What has been your primary marketing channel? How do restaurants find out about you?
With the “Powered by BentoBox” footers, we’ve gotten a lot of inbound interest. As we’ve grown and put more websites into the world, we’ve gotten more visibility, and that channel has continued to scale. In addition, we have a key partnership with a top food distributor. That partner channel has been huge for us, and goes back to the idea that the restaurant industry is one of community — when restaurants get a recommendation from a trusted partner, it goes a long way. We also have an outbound inside sales team that is identifying different restaurants that we would be a good fit for — whether their website is not mobile friendly, they’ve just opened, they have a catering business, etc — we’ll contact them and share how BentoBox can help their business grow.
In terms of marketing, we’ve actually stayed pretty under the radar to date. But this year we are focused on building awareness with content marketing, community management, brand partnerships, and experiences.
There has been quite a bit of M&A in the restaurant/hospitality tech space of late. What are your thoughts on how the industry will consolidate over time?
My take is that the restaurant industry has been overrun with fragmented technology for quite some time. The first cause of this fragmentation has been due to the fact that most of the technologies provided for restaurants are consumer-facing services that restaurants are forced to adopt. These services don’t align with their mission or business operations. Over time, I believe that we’ll see a shift to platforms that don’t compromise the integrity of what restaurants stand for. Secondly, rather than providing one holistic platform, many services are providing one-off features. Restaurants are not technologists — they are passionate small business owners. They are not going to use 8 -10 different platforms for their business. Because of this, one-off feature-based products will continue to be consolidated if they don’t cast a wide net and address a real business need.
As CEO, what has been your biggest challenge/opportunity with BentoBox?
The restaurant industry has been seen by VCs as a potentially small and risky market to go after. That’s a misconception. There are over a million restaurants in the US alone, and we’ve been able to maintain a very high retention rate despite the idea that most restaurants go out of business. Remaining committed to helping an industry I’m passionate about, although challenging, has allowed BentoBox to emerge as an industry leader.
You’ve now scaled to over 3,000 restaurants nationwide. What’s the key metric that you are the most proud of to date?
Our customer retention rate is about 100% on a net basis and over 98% monthly gross. Typical churn rates are 3–6% for SMBs. Our restaurants love BentoBox and see us as a true partner.
What is your vision for BentoBox five years from now?
Our vision at BentoBox is to be the technology that elevates every interaction between the restaurant and its guests. That has started online, and I see that expanding into the brick and mortar in the future.
Have to ask, what’s your current favorite restaurant in NYC?
Juku — not on BentoBox …. yet.
