Science on Call has raised $2.6 million in seed financing to take away the tech headaches that come with running a restaurant.
A semifinalist in Chicago Inno's Inno Madness competition earlier this year, the Chicago startup this week announced the raise led by York IE, with participation from Bread & Butter Ventures, Relish Works Capital Investments, Groove Capital, Connetic Ventures, Redstick VC and Phoenix Club.
Founded in 2020, Science on Call offers a subscription-based tech support platform for restaurants, providing a 24/7 help desk powered by artificial intelligence for businesses that have started using technology like never before.
Andy Freivogel, co-founder and CEO at Science on Call, said the startup is starting to make a big impact on the restaurant space.
"We're working with operators like Primanti Bros. out of Pittsburgh and Gregorys Coffee in New York," he told Chicago Inno. "It seems like this year we got promoted from sous chef to chef de cuisine."
The Chicago startup now supports around 360 restaurant locations across 39 brands from coast to coast, with particular growth in its customer base outside of Chicago in the northeast.
The seed funding will be used to expand Science on Call's product offerings. The Chicago startup will also look to enhance its go-to-market strategy and has brought in entrepreneur Maia Tekle and product development expert Ron Hoffner to spearhead these initiatives.
Moving forward, Freivogel said he wants to replicate the success of other restaurant tech companies by getting out "front and center" through podcasts, trade shows and industry events.
"There are a lot of companies throwing around the word 'AI' right now, and plenty of companies saying they are going to be the next AI-powered solution, but we believe that in order to properly leverage some of these technologies, it relies on great data," he said. "It's that data and work that we've been doing for the last three and a half years that's going to make us the AI powerhouse in restaurant tech."
