Upserve, originally Swipely, provides a restaurant management platform which allows independent full-service restaurants to run and manage their entire business. The Platform is made up of restaurant-specific
point of sale
The point of sale (POS) or point of purchase (POP) is the time and place at which a retail transaction is completed. At the point of sale, the merchant calculates the amount owed by the customer, indicates that amount, may prepare an invoice f ...
(POS) software, payments, and analytics, online ordering, loyalty, and marketing tools designed specifically for restaurants. At the center of the Upserve Platform is the
cloud-based Upserve POS, a point of sale system that Upserve acquired from
Groupon in 2016.
In 2013, ''
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...
'' magazine included Swipely in its list of the top 100 “America’s Most Promising Companies.”
[“America’s Most Promising Companies.”]
''Forbes'' magazine. Feb. 2013 Upserve's former CEO, Angus Davis, was named to Forbes list of “America’s Most Promising CEOs Under 35.”
[“America’s Most Promising CEOs Under 35.”]
''Forbes'' magazine In 2017, Upserve received a nine-figure investment from
Vista Equity Partners
Vista Equity Partners is an American investment firm focused on financing and forwarding software, data, and technology-enabled startup businesses. Vista has invested in hundreds of companies, including Misys, Ping Identity, and Marketo.
The co ...
to accelerate the platform's growth.
History and services
Upserve, formerly Swipely, was founded in 2009 by Angus Davis, the co-founder of
Tellme Networks, which was acquired by
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...
in 2007. Swipely was formerly a
social network
A social network is a social structure made up of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), sets of dyadic ties, and other social interactions between actors. The social network perspective provides a set of methods for an ...
in which members shared their purchases with friends.
In February 2011, Swipely evolved into a loyalty platform for local merchants to reward repeat customers.
[Alspach, Kyle]
“Swipely vs. LevelUp: Battle in Boston Over Customer Loyalty Tech.”
Boston Business Journal. Dec. 15, 2011 In 2016, Swipely acquired Breadcrumb POS from Groupon and re-branded to Upserve in order to reflect its offering of a comprehensive management system for the restaurant industry.
In 2017, Upserve expanded its Restaurant Management Platform by offering integrated online ordering through a partnership with Grubhub, as well as its own online ordering solution. In 2018, Upserve partnered with
Resy
Resy is an American online restaurant-reservation service company founded in 2014 by Gary Vaynerchuk, Ben Leventhal, and Michael Montero. The app serves over 4,000 restaurants in over 200 cities with reservations predominantly in New York, Los ...
to produce an industry-first POS integration to streamline reservations and table management. Additionally, it introduced Upserve Marketplace, which is a curated hub of integrated restaurant technology for its customers to tie together disparate systems.
In 2020, Upserve was acquired by Lightspeed.
Financials and expansion
The
Providence
Providence often refers to:
* Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion
* Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in Christianity
* Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...
start-up
[Nesi, Ted]
"Executive Suite."
WPRI Eyewitness News. Dec. 31, 2012 was the first Rhode Island-based software company to raise $7.5 million in Series A
venture capital
Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth potential or which ha ...
.
[Lacy, Sarah]
“Swipely Is Processing $250m in Payments all from Tiny Rhode Island.”
Pando Daily. Dec. 7, 2012 In 2013, Upserve secured a $12 million
Series B
A venture round is a type of funding round used for venture capital financing, by which startup companies obtain investment, generally from venture capitalists and other institutional investors. The availability of venture funding is among the ...
investment led by Shasta Ventures and raised a $20 million
Series C
A venture round is a type of funding round used for venture capital financing, by which startup companies obtain investment, generally from venture capitalists and other institutional investors. The availability of venture funding is among the ...
led by the Pritzker Group bringing the total funds raised to $40.5 million.
In July 2017, Upserve received a strategic investment of more than $100 million from Vista Equity Partners. As of spring of 2018, thousands of restaurants use Upserve to manage relationships with more than 57 million active diners, process over $12 billion in annual sales, and serve over 36 million meals per month.
In 2018, Upserve opened an office in
Denver
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
adding to its existing office locations in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
and
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
, along with headquarters in Providence, RI.
In July 2018, Upserve announced the acquisition of Israel-based inventory management platform SimpleOrder.
Recognition
Swipely was named one of ''Forbes'' magazine's “America’s Most Promising Companies” in 2013.
[ The company is the first Rhode Island-based firm on this Forbes list.][McGowan, Dan]
“Providence-based Swipely Named to Forbes’ List of America’s 'Most Promising Companies'"
WNAC-TV
WNAC-TV (channel 64), branded on-air as Fox Providence, is a television station in Providence, Rhode Island, United States, affiliated with Fox and The CW. It is owned by Mission Broadcasting, which maintains a local marketing agreement (LMA) ...
. Feb. 8, 2013 CEO Davis has also been included on the Forbes list of “America’s Most Promising CEOs Under 35.”[
Upserve has been featured in '']New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'', ''Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...
'', ''CBS This Morning'', ''Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'', ''Inc.'', ''Entrepreneur'', ''Boston Globe'', ''Thrillist'', ''BostInno'',"Upserve Gets More Funding"
''BostInno''. Retrieved 2018-06-04. ''Quartz'' and ''RestaurantInsider''.
References
Further reading
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External links
* {{Official website, https://upserve.com/
Business software
Companies based in Rhode Island
Internet properties established in 2009