Danny Meyer’s investment arm injects $10M into voice AI tech firm

Dive Brief:

• ConverseNow, which provides voice artificial intelligence technology for restaurants, has secured $10 million in funding from Danny Meyer’s Enlightened Hospitality Investments, according to a press release emailed to Restaurant Dive.
• This technology enables operators to automate order taking from high-volume voice channels, like phone systems and call centers.
• ConverseNow plans to use this funding, which brings its total money raised to $28.8 million, to scale its technology across quick-service and full-service brands.

Dive Insight:

ConverseNow’s growth reflects intensifying restaurant demand for labor-saving solutions as the industry struggles to navigate an historic talent shortage. The company has recorded 12-fold revenue growth over the past year, and CEO Vinay Shukla said in a statement that corresponding demand has been difficult to keep up with.

The tech firm claims its offering nearly doubles peak-hour volume ordering from restaurants’ voice channels, and that it has helped operators boost same-store sales up to 30%. ConverseNow can also raise average ticket prices up to 20% and provide up to 12 hours of additional labor per restaurant per week, the company claims.

ConverseNow believes mainstream adoption of its technology is “imminent.” Currently, the company’s technology is live in over 1,200 restaurants across 40 states, including Domino’s and Fazoli’s.

Danny Meyer said in a statement that this technology can also improve the guest experience by optimizing labor allocation at restaurants.

“We’ve seen a dramatic shift in the way consumers engage with restaurants over the past two years, and for restaurants to earn customer loyalty today, they must deliver memorable experiences,” Meyer said.

ConverseNow has a growing list of patents to improve its AI’s capabilities, integrate with hardware and software providers and give restaurant partners access to analytics, COO and Chief Product Officer Rahul Aggarwal said in a statement.

Several major restaurant chains have bet on AI-powered solutions from different technology firms to take pressure off of their teams. Checkers & Rally’s has deployed AI drive-thru tech from Presto and Valyant AI, for instance, while Papa John’s added an AI-assisted call center, called Papa Callin March 2020. Fifty-percent of U.S. restaurant operators plan to implement some form of automation technology in the next two years, per a Lightspeed report.