E la Carte, a company that develops a tableside tablet for the restaurant and related hospitality industries, has raised $13.5 million in Series B funding led by Intel Capital with participation from Romulus Capital. The startup had previously raised over $5 million from Lightbank, SV Angel, Dave McClure, Joshua Schachter, and others.
E la Carte’s hardware for restaurants, called Presto, debuted last year to bring user-friendly tablets to restaurants. The 7-inch tablet includes a digital menu that lets you sift through the restaurant’s food and drink selections via photos and detailed descriptions using a touch-screen interface. There’s also a section for payments and games, including trivia and a drawing app.
Last year, the startup updated its hardware and software for a longer battery life, resilience to heavy restaurant use and spills and more.
For example, E la Carte redesigned the credit card reader for a more seamless swipe experience, and the LED light changes color based on table status (similar to the way you’d press the call button for a flight attendant on an airplane).
The company says that Presto helps restaurants achieve 10 percent sales boosts, 7-minute faster table turns, and 9X increases in loyalty program sign-ups. The company currently has thousands of tablets deployed, and is creating $1 million annually in value for installed restaurants. The tablets are processing over $6 million in orders and payments.
