Wendy Jiang was in South Korea a couple years ago having dinner with friends, when she saw a big button on the table and pressed it. A waitress came over, and for the rest of the night they could summon a server at the push of that button.
“We just had a really good time that night,” Jiang said. “Looking at her, she was super chill about the whole experience because she knew exactly where she needed to go.”
That mutual benefit, and the lack of a similar option in the U.S., kicked the Richmond engineer’s entrepreneurial spirit into high gear.
“I studied engineering in college, but waited tables throughout,” she said. “As a server, we want to take care of you as a customer, but we’re constantly guessing. That night was a good experience for us as guests and her as a server.”
She started working on a solution in early 2018, after playing with the idea of a server button but not finding a suitable one already on the market. Having worked at chemical manufacturers for most of her career, Jiang knew how to build a product, but “a great company is 50% great product and 50% sales and marketing.” She brought on the best salesperson she knew from a previous job, built a button device, Fitbit-like smartwatch and app, and officially launched Tablee in April this year.
Tablee allows guests to press a 3x4-inch button to request service, which will alert servers and employees through the app and smartwatch. The company pre-configures the system for each venue, claiming it can be set up in a restaurant in five minutes.
Managers can organize the alerts by sections, so the correct servers are notified about their tables, and can collect data on response times. The smartwatch also has basic health-reading functions that help keep employees apprised of their health and fitness.
Tablee tested its platform at 18 locations along the East Coast last year, working with managers and collecting guest feedback. Since then, the Richmond startup’s product has been implemented at more than 100 venues in six countries, ranging from casual dining restaurants to hotels to entertainment hotspots.
In July the company raised $500,000 in its first outside funding round, which included Dominion Payroll co-founders David Gallagher and David Fratkin. The pair also owns food and entertainment concept Tang & Biscuit, one of Tablee’s first customers.
This year alone, the startup was named a Top 9 Restaurant Tech to Watch for by National Restaurant News and both a Most Exciting Product Innovation and Supplier of the Year winner by the Florida Restaurant Association.
Jiang said her biggest focus for the next couple years is increasing awareness about Tablee and guest-server communication devices, while placing its devices in more and more venues. The company is also looking to expand its team of eight full-time employees, with immediate openings for data scientist and social media manager roles.
