Appetas
A restaurant marketing platform that enables restaurants to easily create web, mobile, and social sites.
| Date | Investors | Amount | Round |
|---|---|---|---|
| investor investor | €0.0 | round | |
| investor investor | €0.0 | round | |
| N/A | €0.0 | round | |
N/A | Acquisition | ||
| Total Funding | 000k | ||
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Appetas was a service for restaurant owners to instantly generate and manage a professional website. Founded in 2012 by former Microsoft employees Curtis Fonger and Keller Smith, the Seattle-based startup aimed to solve the common problem of restaurants having outdated, non-mobile-friendly websites. The founders' backgrounds at Microsoft, with Fonger's experience in UI development for products like SkyDrive and Smith's in project management for SharePoint, informed their approach to creating a simple, user-centric platform.
The inspiration for Appetas came from Smith's frustration while trying to look up a restaurant's menu and happy hour on his phone, only to find the site wouldn't load properly. This experience highlighted a significant gap in the market for a dedicated website builder tailored to the specific needs of the restaurant industry. The company's core product allowed a restaurant owner to enter their business name and, within seconds, the platform would pull public information and menus to create a customizable, professional website. The service operated on a subscription-based model, charging a monthly fee for hosting and management tools.
Appetas' platform distinguished itself by providing integrations with essential restaurant services like OpenTable for reservations and GrubHub for delivery, features typically affordable only for larger establishments. The websites were designed to be mobile-responsive and easily updated by the restaurant owners themselves. After winning the AngelHack competition, the company secured seed funding from investors including Right Side Capital Management, Palo Alto Venture Science, and TechStars. In May 2014, Google acquired Appetas for an undisclosed amount. Following the acquisition, Appetas was shut down, and its team joined Google to apply their expertise to new projects within Google's local business and restaurant discovery services. Keywords: restaurant website builder, Appetas, Curtis Fonger, Keller Smith, online ordering integration, restaurant technology, mobile restaurant websites, OpenTable integration, GrubHub integration, food tech, website as a service, SaaS, restaurant marketing, local business tools, menu management, online reservations, Google acquisition, Seattle startup, AngelHack winner, TechStars company