Venga Secures $1 Million From VCs and Restaurateurs

WASHINGTON, Jan. 15, 2014 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- Venga, the only complete customer management system for restaurants, announced it has closed a $1 million Series A round.  Founded in 2010, Venga has raised a total of $1.65 million.

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Led by Militello Capital, the round includes a prestigious roster of industry executives, restaurant groups and angel investors. They include: Think Food Group (Jose Andres' restaurant group), Big Red Ventures (Cornell University's venture fund), Bill and Pat Anton (founders of Anton Airfood), Philip Cummins (partner, Innovative Dining Group), Gus DiMillo (owner, Passion Food Hospitality), Brad Zions (co-founder, Lemonade Restaurants), Alicia Aloe (founder, RezSource), Jodie McLean (President and Chief Investment Officer, EDENS), and various angels.

Venga's patent-pending technology automatically links restaurants' point of sale systems and reservation systems (such as OpenTable®). In doing so, it connects purchases to the individual guests who made them to seamlessly build profiles on individual guests' habits and preferences. Restaurants use this information to increase visit frequency, customer satisfaction, and spending through targeted email campaigns and personalized service. To date, they've tracked over $160m in spending and created over 6 million guest profiles. Restaurants using Venga have seen an ROI exceeding 650%.

"Venga has built the 'holy grail' for restaurants," said Bill Anton, Chairman Emeritus of the Culinary Institute of America's (CIA) Board of Trustees and restaurant industry icon. Pat Anton, Chair Emeritus of the Women's Foodservice Forum and CIA Trustee, agreed, saying, "Venga allows restaurants to connect actual customers to their purchase history for the first time. This allows managers to engage customers like never before."

Some of the most influential restaurateurs and restaurant groups around the country have adopted the product, including Michael Mina, Michael White, Richard Sandoval, Fig & Olive, and EMM Group.  Venga plans to build on this success, using the additional funding to scale their sales team and develop a CRM product for the casual dining market.

"This funding will allow Venga to satisfy the incredible demand in the restaurant marketplace for its current product and identify new opportunities," said Matt Brady, co-founder and COO of Militello Capital. "We are excited to support Venga's growth as they continue to develop innovative ways to deliver customer insights to restaurants."

About Venga

Founded in 2010 in Washington, D.C., Venga's mission has always been to provide restaurants with deeper insights into guests' preferences and habits. Venga has grown into the leading guest management software for the restaurant industry and their patent-pending technology remains the only product to combine dining reservations with point-of-sale data.  In doing so, it connects purchases to the individual guests who made them to seamlessly build profiles on individual guests' habits and preferences. Venga's clients, which include many of the most successful restaurant groups in the country such as ThinkFoodGroup, Michael Mina and Altamarea Group Restaurants, use this information to increase visit frequency, customer satisfaction, and spending through targeted email campaigns and personalized service.  For more information, visithttp://www.getvenga.com.

Media Contact: Winston Lord, Venga, 202-450-2006, [email protected]

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SOURCE Venga