Company name: Fresh Technology Inc.
Amount raised: $7 million, in a Series A round
Lead investor: Fintop Capital, of Nashville, which is a repeat investor in Fresh Technology.
What they do: Fresh Technology and its software spun out of Nashville-based restaurant operator Fresh Hospitality LLC. Flagship platform Fresh KDS aims to help restaurants improve order accuracy and synchronize the cadence and timing of when certain orders are made. CEO Shaun Shankel said the pandemic "supercharged" a "massive digital transformation" that was underway in the restaurant business — causing chaos in the kitchen because food orders now come not just from dine-in and drive-thru, but also "all the delivery providers, Google, native apps, catering websites, ghost kitchens, virtual brands, etc."
Why it matters: Shankel forecasts triple-digit percent growth in bookings for Fresh KDS year-over-year. "A rarity in the restaurant tech space is that both Fresh Technology and Fintop are from Nashville," he said. "This demonstrates Nashville's continued transformation into both a food and technology center in the U.S."
What the funds will be used for: Hiring employees in sales, marketing and product development. Fresh Technology has 40 employees today. About 30% are based in Nashville, including Shankel, most of the executive team and all board members.
Quotable: "Many of our contemporaries are partnering with venture firms from the coasts, but we wanted to work with Fintop because they understand operators, have a great track record, share our values, and are based here in Nashville," Shankel said.
