PHL Inno's weekly "Startup Spotlight" feature highlights founders and new businesses cropping up in the region.
The startup: Grumbles is an app that helps users find restaurants to eat at or order from by taking into account their likes, dislikes and dietary restrictions.
Founded: 2019
Home base: Philadelphia
Founders: Pete Wolk and Raphael Watanabe.
Wolk and Watanabe both have backgrounds in technology, and the duo found that having dietary restrictions can be an isolating experience.
“When we started adding up all the issues that we've experienced with food while eating out and then starting to expand that to our family and friends, we knew we had a game changer,” Wolk said of the idea for Grumbles.
The startup was founded as an app to detail menus from food trucks at festivals so attendees could determine which trucks were safe for their dietary restrictions and see photos of the foods they could order.
“They want to make sure that whatever they were getting, whatever they were going to wait in line for for that long, was the best thing that they could get,” Wolk said.
The product: Grumbles shows users photos of food from local restaurants based on their taste profile. Using geolocation, the app then finds restaurants nearby that meet their needs.
Data collection for Grumbles happens in three ways: The Grumbles team will upload restaurant menus and food photos, restaurants can upload their own menus and menu photos, and users can upload photos.
The Grumbles app is free on the App Store and the Google Play store.
The startup faces competition from other dietary restriction-focused apps, but Wolk believes Grumbles is different because of its “food first approach,” rather than a restaurant-first approach.
Taking that approach also allows participating restaurants to boost menu items that may be overshadowed by more popular foods on Grumbles’ app.
“We're hoping for them to write to highlight some of these meals on their menus that might not get as much play, because maybe they're just known for being a pizza shop or something, right? But maybe they make an awesome veal parmesan or something that not many people know about,” Wolk said.
Funding: Grumbles is self-funded, but the startup will look to fundraise in 2022.
The goal: As part of a pilot, Grumbles is launching its app in Phoenixville, with every menu item from every restaurant in the suburban borough uploaded to its platform. Phoenixville's hospitality sector has expanded in recent years with new eateries and breweries, without being as large of a city as Philadelphia, making it an ideal spot for Grumbles to start, Wolk said.
Launching Grumbles in the evolving foodie town could serve as a boost for the region's restaurant scene, while providing the startup with information on how it can improve before expanding to other areas, Wolk said. The app will launch in Philadelphia later in 2022 after completing more pilots in smaller geographies.
“Our approach is to cut our teeth in the suburbs and then eventually move into
