Monday, March 10, 2008

Drive-thru funding: Exit41 fills order for $2.4M

By Christopher Calnan

Fast food drive-thru software maker Exit41 Inc. has filled another order -- of venture capital.

The Andover developer of point-of-sale applications for fast-food restaurants raised $2.4 million from five investors in a planned $3.4 million round of fundraising, according to documents filed with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The funding comes one year after Exit41 closed on a $7 million round of financing, and a decade after the company was founded. Last year, CEO Joe Gagnon said he expected that the $7 million investment would help the company reach profitability during the first quarter 2008 by attracting more fast-food restaurants using Exit41's software to operate off-site call centers for drive-through orders.

Gagnon didn't respond to messages seeking comment.

Investors include Thomas Weisel Venture Partners LP, a California-based VC firm, and Fidelity Investors III LP in Boston. Thomas Weisel officials declined to comment.

As of last year, Exit41 had collected $35 million in funding since launching in 1998. Gagnon also said last year that he expected five brands of so-called "quick service" restaurants to adopt the technology by the end of March 2007, but it is unclear whether that number has been reached.

As of last year, Exit41's software had been installed at eight Wendy's International and Burger King franchises operating restaurants in six states, according to company officials. The company's website names Taco Bueno and Swiss Chalet as other customers.

In 2006, Gagnon, a former IBM Corp. executive, replaced Exit41 co-founder Thomas Jones as CEO.