McDonald's is launching a new technology lab in Silicon Valley, which will be led in part by members of a voice-based startup the company acquired Tuesday.
McDonald's announced today that it has acquired Apprente, a Mountain View-based startup that's created voice-based platforms for conversational ordering. McDonald's, which has been testing Apprente at some of its restaurants, says the technology is expected to create faster, simpler and more accurate orders at the drive thru window.
The technology also has the potential to be incorporated into mobile ordering and at in-restaurant kiosks, McDonald's said.
Founded in 2017, Apprente raised $4.8 million in funding from AME Cloud Ventures, Point72 Ventures, Greylock Partners and other investors.
As part of the announcement, McDonald's said it's opening the McD Tech Labs, an internal group within McDonald's Global Technology team based in Silicon Valley. Apprente co-founder Itamar Arel will be the vice president of McD Tech Labs, the company announced, and the Apprente team will be the founding member of the program.
McDonald's said over time it will hire engineers, data scientists and other technologists to join McD Tech Labs.
The Apprente acquisition isn't the first tech company McDonald's has bought to bring innovation to the drive thru ordering process. Earlier this year McDonald's paid more than $300 million to acquire Dynamic Yield, a tech company that helps brands create customized drive thru menus.
