BtownMenus announced Sept. 2 that it will be “expanding their online and mobile food ordering and delivery services and technology to more restaurants, giving customers more options.”
The expansion is thanks to OrderUp, the technology platform that powers BtownMenus.
Working with investment group Revolution Ventures and Tim O’Shaughnessy , co-founder of LivingSocial , OrderUp was able to procure $7 million in Series A funding, the first round of funding for a business after its initial seed capital, according to BtownMenus.
“We were at the point where it’s a pretty competitive industry, and we were growing pretty rapidly,” BtownMenus owner Mike Rolland said.
Talk of raising money for expansion had been going back and forth for the last couple of years, Rolland said. After seeing GrubHub, a larger competitor of BtownMenus, garner national media attention with the announcement of its initial public offering, pulling the trigger on expansion seemed like a good idea.
Since its initial public offer, GrubHub stock has increased by more than four dollars per share.
Rolland said BtownMenus was originally meant for online ordering for restaurants that already offered a delivery service. About a year ago, the company began delivering for restaurants that don’t have a delivery service.
“It seemed like the trend was getting to a point where everyone wanted to outsource delivery,” he said. “Restaurants were asking us to deliver for them. Customers were already thinking we were the delivery guys. So we figured it would make sense to add that revenue stream to the model.”
Combining the two services, BtownMenus now offers online ordering for delivery restaurants and delivery service for restaurants that do not offer the service.
“It’s basically an all-in-one stop shop or food court online,” he said.
Other services of the expansion include technology development, such as a mobile app and online accounts that will allow people to keep money on BtownMenus.
OrderUp is an online and mobile food ordering and delivery service. It currently operates in more than 35 towns and is headquartered in Baltimore, Md. OrderUp has a close relationship with BtownMenus, Rolland said.
“Mike Rolland has done a great job growing Btownmenus, and we’re excited to take it to the next level,” Chris Jeffery, CEO of OrderUp, said. “We’ve got a great team already, and now we’re going to be building new technology and services at a much faster rate.”
