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§ Private Profile · Austin, TX 78756
Provider of AI-powered voice ordering systems for restaurants, automating order-taking via virtual assistants in English and Spanish.
Based in Austin, Texas, ConverseNow develops AI-powered voice ordering systems that automate and personalize order-taking processes for the broader restaurant industry. The company provides a business-to-business software-as-a-service platform operating in both English and Spanish to efficiently manage high-volume voice orders and optimize store operations. As of 2022, the enterprise maintained a global workforce of 100 employees across the United States, India, and Argentina, while reporting a twelvefold year-over-year revenue growth. ConverseNow has raised $28.8 million in total funding, which includes a $15 million Series A and a $10 million growth round backed by Enlightened Hospitality Investments. This investment group is co-founded by Danny Meyer, who is also associated with major hospitality brands like Union Square Hospitality Group and Shake Shack. ConverseNow was officially founded in 2018 by co-founders Vinay Shukla and Rahul Aggarwal.
ConverseNow has raised $28.0M across 3 funding rounds.
ConverseNow has raised $28.0M in total across 3 funding rounds.
ConverseNow has raised $28.0M across 3 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $10.0M Other Equity in August 2022.
ConverseNow is a Voice AI company founded in 2018 and headquartered in Austin, Texas, that builds customizable AI-powered virtual assistants to automate and personalize restaurant orders across channels like phones, drive-thrus, voice assistants, and kiosks.[1][2][3][4] It serves restaurant owners, operators, frontline staff, and guests in the quick-service restaurant (QSR) sector, solving high-pressure challenges in fast-paced voice ordering by handling repetitive tasks, boosting customer satisfaction, increasing average ticket size through personalized upsell recommendations, and freeing staff to focus on food preparation.[1][3][5] The company has raised $28.3 million in funding, including a $10 million round, and reports $9.9 million in revenue, with growth momentum shown through partnerships like a Wingstop pilot across 1,900+ locations and millions of processed conversations.[2]
ConverseNow was co-founded in 2018 by Vinay Shukla and Rahul Aggarwal, engineering college classmates who bonded over innovation and later built successful careers at firms like UBS, Barclays, and Unilever.[1] After co-founding Endeavor Software Technologies in 2002, scaling it, and selling to Genpact in 2016, they pivoted to AI, launching ConverseNow from Austin to revolutionize restaurant voice ordering with a vision to act as a "digital best friend" for restaurant teams.[1] Early traction came from their team's deep foodservice and tech expertise, evolving into a proprietary AI platform that has served millions of conversations and secured major pilots like Wingstop in 2023.[1][2]
ConverseNow rides the AI automation wave in the $1 trillion+ global restaurant industry, where labor shortages, rising wages, and demand for frictionless ordering amplify the need for voice AI in QSRs.[1][4] Timing aligns with post-pandemic shifts to digital drive-thrus and kiosks, plus generative AI advances enabling natural, predictive conversations that boost upsell without alienating guests.[3][5] Market forces like Wingstop's expansion favor it, as chains seek scalable tech to handle volume; ConverseNow influences the ecosystem by setting standards for hybrid, customizable voice AI, enabling operators to compete with delivery apps while retaining control.[2]
ConverseNow is poised for explosive growth as voice AI matures, with national rollouts from pilots like Wingstop and potential enterprise deals accelerating adoption amid ongoing labor crunches.[2] Trends like multimodal AI integration (voice + vision for menus) and edge computing for faster drive-thrus will shape its path, while expanding multilingual capabilities taps global QSR markets.[5] Its influence could evolve from niche innovator to industry standard, empowering restaurants to reclaim margins from third-party platforms—transforming voice ordering from a bottleneck to a revenue engine, much like its founders' earlier software success.
ConverseNow has raised $28.0M in total across 3 funding rounds.
ConverseNow's investors include Pete Mavrovitis, Craft Ventures, 2048 Ventures, Avaana Capital, Capital Factory, Floodgate, foobar.vc, Fractal Growth Partners, Hack VC, Helion Venture Partners, Navitas Capital, Next Coast Ventures.