Maven leads £2.7m investment in hospitality application QikServe

Funding will enable rapid roll-out of QikServe’s innovative software platform across the hospitality sector.

Maven has led a £2.7 million investment in QikServe, which has developed a patented B2B cloud-based platform aimed at hospitality operators, enabling customers to order and pay for items from a smartphone, tablet or self-service terminal.

Founded in 2011 by entrepreneurs Daniel Rodgers and Ronnie Forbes, QikServe’s software has recently undergone a number successful pilot schemes which has led to contracts being secured with a number of global hospitality businesses. Today’s funding will support the global roll-out of QikServe’s innovative platform, including major expansion into the United States, growing the firm’s workforce in key areas, and supporting channel partners.

QikServe’s platform enables customers to discover restaurants, check-in to tables, browse menus, place orders, save and redeem loyalty points or vouchers, and pay their bill directly from their mobile phone or tablet. The platform targets the increasing consumer adoption of mobile solutions and also brings significant advantages to restaurants by introducing efficiencies, reducing labour costs, and increasing average spend; QikServe’s pilot schemes have seen an uplift in spend per head of between 50% and 73%.

Edinburgh-based QikServe is the only accredited mobile ordering system that is fully integrated with a world-leading EPOS provider, Oracle Hospitality, and provides QikServe with access to over 330,000 accounts across 180 countries. Its software offers Oracle’s multi-site operators a quick and cost-effective solution for deploying a self-service model across large estates. The technology can be seamlessly built into existing back-end systems, with the platform able to be configured remotely with no additional hardware or software required in the premises.

 “We have been hugely impressed by the functionality and capability of the QikServe platform and believe that the technology offers a differentiated service to hospitality operators who are keen to realise the potential self-service offers in terms of increasing order value and reducing costs. The hospitality market needs to adapt in the same way that the wider retail market has responded to evolving consumer habits. With Millennials in particular demanding mobile solutions, there is a clear need for the sector to embrace technology. The hard work and efforts of the QikServe team over a number of years have put them at the leading edge of their market and once again it is great to see another exciting technology business originating out of Edinburgh which is capable of satisfying a global market.”
David Milroy, Investment Director at Maven

 “A dramatic global shift in hospitality economics is resulting in increased uptake of digital self-service technology. Mobile ordering and payments are now pressing concerns for businesses across the global hospitality sector as they seek to improve service, reduce costs and meet the expectations of the modern consumer. We are already working closely with billion-dollar hospitality companies and this funding, combined with our Oracle integration, will accelerate our global footprint, strengthening our position at the forefront of enterprise solutions for hospitality. We are delighted to welcome Maven to the QikServe team and look forward to working with them to help transform hospitality for today’s digital society.”
Daniel Rodgers, CEO at QikServe