SinglePlatform, which places restaurant search info such as menus, specials and photos, on search engines and social and mobile media, has raised $3.25 million. The new raise is led by DFJ Gotham Ventures with participation from New World Ventures, First Round Capital and RRE Venture. It is on top of $1.2 million raised in February 2010.
For a few hundred dollars per year, Single Platform, restaurants can publish their listings across a publisher network that includes 11,000 mobile applications, 34,000 hotels, 620 universities, data providers, and travel and food specific destination sites. Mobile optimization is especially emphasized. The company’s tagline is “Get Discovered, Publish your news (or information) to millions online.”
Social media also plays a significant role. Menus can be published within websites, and users can “like” items, as well as search by in real-time by popularity, price, & dish.
More than 100,000 restaurants are said to be using the company’s products now, and the goal is to have 250,000 restaurants. It isn’t clear how many are actually buying services, however. . The company also emphasizes search by cuisine specialties (i.e. “gyros,” instead of Greek). I don’t personally shop for restaurants that way.
Currently, the company has 40 employees, including dedicated sales in “every” major market. The company’s sales people make premise calls with iPad demos that emphasize the need to create a “full browser” self-serve experience, rather than a simple website.
The main revenue model, today, is based off of the yearly subscription fee. SinglePlatform has signed up major publishers throughout the country – and will be releasing these partnerships, as well as a brand new product, next month. Looking forward, SinglePlatform investors have said that the company will expand to other local categories beyond restaurants.