Ritual Orders Up a $43.5 Million Series B Funding Round
Ritual is staying ahead of their food-ordering competition with the announcement of a $43.5 million round of funding.
The new Series B round was led by Insight Venture Partners and allows the Toronto-based company to double its employee base and add even more cities to the areas it covers. The platform already serves Toronto, Chicago, New York, L.A. and Boston, but often expands neighbourhoods first, rather than adding entirely new cities to the app.
Ritual lets users order lunch, dinner or coffee online then pick them up when ready, earning points along the way that can be redeemed for free food. They make a profit by taking a small cut of each order, but strictly forbid price-gouging by restaurants.
There are more than 1,000 restaurants to choose from through Ritual. The platform just launched a new service app-wide called Piggyback, which allows users to make virtual coffee runs and drop orders back at their co-worker’s desks.
Cities that Ritual is rumoured to be targeting include Washington, San Francisco and Seattle. These will roll out within one or two years.
At NewCo, an event in Toronto where startups open their doors to the press and public, Ritual CEO Ray Reddy said that area expansion is at the forefront for the company. He also stated that a review system could also be in the works, but they must first reinvent the space and find a new way to showcase ratings for dishes or restaurants.
Ritual won Best Mobile App at the 2016 Canadian Startup Awards.
