Upserve
 | This article contains promotional content. (September 2013) |
 | |
| Type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Point of sale |
| Founded | 2009 |
| Headquarters | Providence, Rhode Island |
Key people | Angus Davis, Josh Kopelman, and Reid Hoffman |
| Products | Restaurant point of sale |
| Website | upserve |
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 (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.[1]
In 2013, Forbes magazine included Swipely in its list of the top 100 “America’s Most Promising Companies.”[2] In 2017, Upserve received a nine-figure investment from Vista Equity Partners.[3]
History
[edit]Upserve, formerly Swipely, was founded in 2009 by Angus Davis, the co-founder of Tellme Networks, which was acquired by Microsoft in 2007.[4][5][6] Swipely was formerly a social network in which members shared their purchases with friends.[7][8][9]
In February 2011, Swipely evolved into a loyalty platform for local merchants to reward repeat customers.[10] In 2016, Swipely acquired Breadcrumb POS from Groupon and rebranded to Upserve in order to reflect its offering of a comprehensive management system for the restaurant industry.[11]
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.[12] In 2018, Upserve partnered with Resy to produce an industry-first POS integration to streamline reservations and table management.[13] Additionally, it introduced Upserve Marketplace, which is a hub of integrated restaurant technology for its customers to tie together disparate systems.[14]
In 2020, Upserve was acquired by Lightspeed for $430 million.[15][16] Six years later, Lightspeed sold Upserve in April 2026 to Skyview Equity.[17][16]
Financials and expansion
[edit]The Providence start-up[18] was the first Rhode Island–based software company to raise $7.5 million in Series A venture capital.[19] In 2013, Upserve secured a $12 million Series B investment led by Shasta Ventures and raised a $20 million Series C led by the Pritzker Group[20] bringing the total funds raised to $40.5 million.[21]
In July 2017, Upserve received an investment of more than $100 million from Vista Equity Partners.[22]
In 2018, Upserve opened an office in Denver adding to its existing office locations in San Francisco and New York, along with headquarters in Providence, RI.[23]
In July 2018, Upserve announced the acquisition of Israel-based inventory management platform SimpleOrder.[24]
Recognition
[edit]Swipely was named one of Forbes magazine's “America’s Most Promising Companies” in 2013.[2] The company is the first Rhode Island–based firm on this Forbes list.[25]
Upserve has been featured in New York Times, Forbes, CBS This Morning, Wall Street Journal,[26] Inc., Entrepreneur, Boston Globe,[27] Thrillist, BostInno,[28] Quartz, and RestaurantInsider.
References
[edit]- ↑ "Groupon sells restaurant-tech business Breadcrumb to Upserve" Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2018-06-04.
- 1 2 “America’s Most Promising Companies.” Forbes magazine. Feb. 2013
- ↑ "Angus Davis Builds Upserve To Serve As Management Platform For America's One Million Restaurants" Forbes. Retrieved 2018-06-04.
- ↑ Kara Swisher (2010-05-11). "Swipely Nabs $7.5 Million in Series A Funding for Social Spending (And to Attack Blippy!)". All Things D.
- ↑ Sally Herships (2010-06-02). "Social shopping sites high in data value". NPR Marketplace.[permanent dead link]
- ↑ Vara, Vauhini (March 15, 2007). "Microsoft Purchase Of Tellme Adds Voice To Web Initiative". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
- ↑ MG Siegler (2010-05-11). "You Could See Swipely's $7.5 Million Round On Blippy, But You Won't On Swipely". TechCrunch.
- ↑ Brad Stone (2010-05-11). "Swipely Enters the Social Shopping Field". The Wall Street Journal.
- ↑ Ylan Q. Mui (2010-05-22). "In shoppers' online networks, privacy has no price tag". The Washington Post.
- ↑ Alspach, Kyle. “Swipely vs. LevelUp: Battle in Boston Over Customer Loyalty Tech.” Boston Business Journal. Dec. 15, 2011
- ↑ Bramson, Kate. "Providence's data company Swipely now Upserve, reflecting focus on restaurateurs". The Providence Journal. Retrieved 2016-03-17.
- ↑ "Grubhub pairs with Oracle Hospitality to streamline orders" Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2018-06-04.
- ↑ "Resy rolls out a new suite of tools for restaurants" TechCrunch. Retrieved 2018-06-04.
- ↑ "Upserve offers seamless online ordering" Fast Casual. Retrieved 2018-06-04.
- ↑ "Lightspeed Announces Acquisition of Upserve to Further Omnichannel Revolution of American Restaurant Industry". Lightspeed HQ. December 2020. Retrieved 2021-03-10.
- 1 2 "Lightspeed sells underperforming U.S. unit Upserve for fraction of $430-million paid in 2020". The Globe and Mail. 2026-04-29. Retrieved 2026-06-22.
- ↑ "Lightspeed selling U.S. hospitality business Upserve to Skyview Equity". Toronto Star. 2026-04-29. Retrieved 2026-06-22.
- ↑ Nesi, Ted. "Executive Suite." Archived 2013-01-07 at the Wayback Machine WPRI Eyewitness News. Dec. 31, 2012
- ↑ Lacy, Sarah. “Swipely Is Processing $250m in Payments all from Tiny Rhode Island.” Pando Daily. Dec. 7, 2012
- ↑ "Term Sheet -- Monday, May 9, 2016" Fortune. Retrieved 2018-06-04.
- ↑ Bramson, Kate. "Upserve". The Providence Journal. Retrieved 2026-06-22.
- ↑ Bramson, Kate. "Upserve competitor Toast raises $101M in financing". The Providence Journal. Retrieved 2026-06-22.
- ↑ "Restaurant tech firm sets up at Denver Place" BusinessDen. Retrieved 2018-06-04.
- ↑ "Upserve Acquires Inventory Management Platform" RhodeIslandInno. Retrieved 2018-07-27.
- ↑ McGowan, Dan. “Providence-based Swipely Named to Forbes’ List of America’s 'Most Promising Companies'" Deprecated link archived 2013-04-10 at archive.today WNAC-TV. Feb. 8, 2013
- ↑ "Vista Invests in Restaurant Software Provider Upserve" Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2018-06-04.
- ↑ "How restaurants know what you want to eat before you do" Boston Globe. Retrieved 2018-06-04.
- ↑ "Upserve Gets More Funding" BostInno. Retrieved 2018-06-04.
Further reading
[edit]- Kim, Ryan (December 17, 2012). "Swipely hits its stride combining payments, analytics and loyalty". Gigaom. Archived from the original on December 19, 2012. Retrieved October 11, 2016.
- Wang, Selina (August 10, 2016). "Square Gives Loans to Restaurants Outside Network With Upserve". Bloomberg. Retrieved October 11, 2016.
- Grove, Jennifer Van (February 28, 2011). "Swipely Swaps Public Purchase-Sharing for Private Savings". Mashable. Retrieved October 11, 2016.
- Martin, Dylan (March 7, 2016). "Swipely Is Now Upserve & It's Leaning on AI to Make Restaurants Smarter". BostInno. Archived from the original on March 8, 2016. Retrieved October 11, 2016.
- Wilhelm, Alex (September 24, 2013). "Now Processing $1B Annually, Swipely Announces A Partner Network To Support Growth". TechCrunch. Retrieved October 11, 2016.
