Singapore investors are backing New York-based startup Menusifu as a company they envision providing order-ahead and mobile payment capabilities for restaurants that will benefit Chinese tourists.
Jubilee Capital Management and Amino Capital have joined in a $3 million funding round for restaurant software provider Menusifu. It marks the first U.S. investment from Jubilee's technology fund.
Menusifu focuses on providing fast- and full-service restaurants in the U.S. with software to serve mobile-first customers, including a cloud-based point-of-sale platform and digitizing front- and back-end systems. The software streamlines supply chain management, online ordering platforms, marketing services and data analytics reporting.
Because the system will integrate with Alipay and WeChat Pay mobile wallets, it allows Chinese visitors in the U.S., Singapore or other regions to make direct payments with renminbi from Chinese bank accounts and digital wallets. It will also integrate loyalty programs through social media and app platforms.
“Menusifu’s solutions address not only the increasing digital transformation of the restaurant business, but a key opportunity in China’s burgeoning outbound market—over 100 million Chinese tourists, business travellers, and students abroad annually," Jubilee Capital co-founder and Chinese entrepreneur Stanley Zhang said in a Sept. 20 press release.
Menusifu brings "a slice of home to Chinese consumers abroad" through its use of familiar table-side mobile payments, QR codes and mobile apps to facilitate ordering and transactions, as well as the ability to pay with Chinese currency, Zhang added.
The investors saw a strong potential for Menusifu to expand its solutions beyond the U.S., thus fitting well with strategies to capture first mover solutions in the "fast-growing market of China going global," Zhang said.
