News

Upserve acquires Breadcrumb

May 10, 2016

Upserve announced today that it's acquiring mobile point-of-sale platform, Breadcrumb, from Groupon to meet growing demand for a combination of the two platforms. Together, the two businesses form the nation's largest cloud-based restaurant management tool serving more than 6,000 restaurants in all 50 states, according to a company press release. 

By combining the POS capabilities of Breadcrumb with Upserve's smart management assistant, the combined entity offers what a press release says is the most-complete suite of solutions built entirely for restaurant management. The 5-year-old Breadcrumb is subscription-based and helps with key management tasks, inclucing tracking tables and labor costs. Upserve's management assistant has features to optimize menus, track employee performance and even keep an eye on restaurant reviews.

Breadcrumb and Upserve began integrating systems informally late last year, but the news release reported that demand for a combination product was so strong that collaboration accounted for almost 25 percent of Breadcrumb's new customer growth.

"Breadcrumb and Upserve go together like peanut butter and jelly," said Upserve Founder and CEO Angus Davis. "Our product range offers restaurants the most comprehensive solution on the market. The huge scale of our cloud-based platform is unmatched. The quality of our (round-the-clock) customer support sets us apart, and our future is bright for continued innovation."

Upserve also integrates with legacy POS systems, including Oracle Micros or NCR Aloha to help restaurants use a hybrid PC-based technology environment with cloud-based systems, according to the release. Other expected benefits of the acquisition include faster growth, better customer support, more comprehensive payment features and the advantages of an open platform that integrates with all major restaurant point of sale systems, major payment processors, and many third-party software packages, said Dan Roarty, senior vice president of food and beverage, Groupon.

"Restaurant point of sale is a very competitive space and Breadcrumb stands to enormously benefit as part of Upserve's comprehensive suite of smart restaurant management solutions for the front and back of the house," he said. "We are incredibly proud of the Breadcrumb product and team, and we look forward to watching the product's continued success as a shareholder in Upserve."

Groupon is exchanging all Breadcrumb assets for an undisclosed, minority stake in Upserve. Breadcrumb employees will join Upserve's teams in San Francisco, Chicago, Providence and New York.