Forkspot
Forkspot is a food app that enables customers to place pickup or dine-in orders with participating restaurants.
| Date | Investors | Amount | Round |
|---|---|---|---|
| N/A | €0.0 | round | |
| N/A | €0.0 | round | |
| N/A | €0.0 | round | |
| N/A | €0.0 | round | |
| N/A | €0.0 | round | |
| N/A | N/A | Series A | |
| Total Funding | 000k | ||
Related Content
Forkspot was a mobile-first platform targeting the restaurant-diner ecosystem, founded in December 2015 by Grigori Mikayelyan. The founder's concept for the company was born from a personal experience of paying full price for a meal, only to discover afterward that the restaurant had a 30 percent discount promotion. To validate his business thesis, Mikayelyan became a Lyft driver, surveying approximately 1500 passengers to understand user needs for a restaurant discount app. His prior experience includes roles as chief marketing officer at Velantro and a strategic marketing consultant at YP.com.
The company operated as a mobile application that connected restaurants with potential customers by providing real-time, on-demand discounts. For consumers, the app provided instant notifications of available promotions when they were near or inside a partner restaurant. This was accomplished by placing free Bluetooth iBeacon devices in participating establishments. Beyond discounts, the platform offered features like smart menus, food recommendations based on popularity, and verified reviews, which used proximity technology to ensure authenticity. Later additions included the ability to pre-order for pickup or dine-in and an integration with Uber and Lyft to compare and book the cheapest ride to a restaurant.
For its restaurant clients, Forkspot provided a targeted marketing tool to attract customers, particularly during slow periods. Restaurants could create and manage their own discount offers directly on the platform. The business model was based on a pay-per-walk-in fee, charging restaurants a small amount for each customer conversion driven by the app. By June 2017, the company had secured $486,000 in a seed funding round from Capital Union Investments and had partnered with restaurants in Los Angeles and San Diego. According to industry data, Forkspot is no longer an active company.
Keywords: restaurant discounts, mobile dining app, food discovery, restaurant marketing, proximity marketing, iBeacon technology, real-time offers, pay-per-walk-in, smart menus, verified reviews, food pre-order, restaurant technology, Grigori Mikayelyan, restaurant deals, dining savings, mobile coupons, customer acquisition, Los Angeles startups, restaurant promotions, diner engagement