Raghav Poddar, a computer science student at Columbia University, found himself captivated by the challenges faced by restaurant owners in maintaining a robust online presence while living in New York City and heavily relying on food delivery and pickup services due to his busy schedule. Recognizing the vital importance of technology for restaurants, Poddar decided to take action.
In response, he founded Superorder, previously known as Forward Kitchens, a comprehensive platform offering websites, menus, images, and various tools for order management, marketing, and financial management to restaurants. Superorder recently announced a successful funding round of $10 million, led by Foundation Capital and featuring participation from notable figures like Michael Seibel of Y Combinator, Kyle Vogt, and Daniel Kan of Cruise, as well as I2BF Global Ventures and others.
Superorder’s core mission revolves around helping restaurants boost their off-premise dining business, primarily through delivery and pickup services. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the growth of off-premise dining, with a significant portion of adults now preferring takeout options. However, Poddar believes that many restaurant owners struggle to adapt to the digital demands placed on their businesses.
He points out, “The increased adoption of technology by restaurant owners doesn’t solve the challenges of setting up, managing, and understanding how to leverage this technology.” Even simple tasks like adjusting operating hours on various delivery platforms can be time-consuming and cumbersome.
Superorder simplifies this process by enabling restaurants to establish a strong online presence, including digital storefronts for delivery, without the need to individually contact each delivery platform. Additionally, the platform consults with restaurants to create “virtual restaurants” or brands operating within their kitchens based on data science, identifying popular dishes in the delivery area.
While the concept of virtual restaurants, also known as “ghost kitchens,” gained traction during the pandemic, they face various challenges, including hiring delivery personnel, managing costs, and addressing concerns from third-party delivery platforms. Superorder, however, claims to take a more thoughtful approach by using generative AI to create menus and images for each virtual restaurant listing, potentially increasing orders and sales for these brands.
Nevertheless, questions about the accuracy of AI-generated images and menu descriptions remain. Poddar emphasizes that Superorder allows restaurants to maintain control over their brand quality, image, and customer relationships, making it easier to create appealing food imagery and creative menu descriptions.
While the source of Superorder’s generative AI remains unclear, other aspects of the platform offer undeniable value, such as an order management module that consolidates orders from multiple delivery platforms into a single interface. Superorder also synchronizes menus across platforms and optimizes menu item prices, automatically reconciling various financial aspects.
Superorder, based in New York City, has steadily grown since emerging from Y Combinator’s Summer 2019 cohort. With approximately 70 employees, it operates in over 180 U.S. cities, serving more than 1,500 restaurant customers and facilitating around 1.5 million orders to date.
The online food delivery market is rapidly expanding, with a projected increase from $160 billion in 2022 to $483 billion by 2032. Superorder plans to use its recent funding to expand its operations, sales, and engineering teams and aims to become the all-in-one software platform for restaurants, offering the tools necessary to maximize profitability from delivery and takeout services.
