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Tuesday, June 22, 2010
The Pitch
1Fastbite pitches restaurant online ordering business
By Lynette F. Cornell
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1Fastbite
Headquarters: Bedford
Phone: 781-475-7649
Email: info@1fastbite.com
URL: www.1fastbite.com
Year founded: 2010
Founders: Andrea Dacayanan and Jim Krochune
Employees: 7
Their pitch: Mentors
In the company’s own words: “1Fastbite is a restaurant order management system that includes point of sale and customer relationship management functionalities. Its primary purpose is to help budget-constrained restaurants to expand by reaching out to the online population. With over 63 million online shoppers in the U.S., many big chain restaurants have already established online ordering systems for their own competitive advantage.”
Background: The beginnings for the company started in mid-2009 when Andrea was trying to find a way to easily provide meals for her family while managing her busy schedule. They conducted market research with local businesses before launching 1FastBite in 2010. Software engineers at Abba Global Systems Inc., the IT outsourcing company she is currently president of, developed the company’s order system.
About the technology: Visitors on a restaurant’s website are redirected to a page hosted by 1FastBite where they can browse the menu and place their order with real-time order summary. Once the order is submitted, the restaurant receives a notification via a browser alert, allowing them to immediately respond and begin processing the purchase. The software also allows restaurants to identify the dining behaviors of their online patrons by storing order history in a database. Restaurants can use this data for creating customized coupon offers and other marketing efforts.
The plan: “Our team’s goal is to empower restaurants to compete and win in the world of online ordering. We will not simply provide restaurants a web presence and online ordering but have also included customizable features into 1Fastbite to help restaurateurs market appropriately to their target clients and build customer relationships. Our technology allows restaurateurs to use the system without having to install special software or additional devices. It is completely browser-based at this time.”
The company intends to continue to allow restaurant patrons to use 1Fastbite free of charge. Their financial strategy is to provide their services to restaurants with minimal charges and still be profitable. They are planning for a launch in October with a goal to develop a national presence by one year after the launch.
Its pitch: They are seeking experienced and successful entrepreneurs, lawyers or investors who would be willing to share their knowledge and wisdom. They are also seeking people who can serve as members of their board of advisors.
The people behind the company: Andrea Dacayanan, is the CEO and co-founder. She is the president and founder of Abba Global Systems Inc., a Bedford-based company that provides offshore outsourcing of software development services to technology companies based in the New England area.
The company’s CTO and Dacayanan’s husband, Dante Dacayanan, is also a principal architect and engineering manager at Waltham-based Verdasys Inc.
Jim Krochune is the executive vice-president of sales and a co-founder. He is also a sales engineer at Burlington-based American Plant Maintenance Inc., a steam and compressed gas survey company.
1Fastbite is a part-time project they have developed while working full-time at their regular jobs.
The Market Opportunity: The company seeks to grab a chunk of the the restaurant industry market, which is a $580 billion market according to the National Restaurant Association. They currently have three restaurants actively using their service with a few more in the process of setting up accounts. They are not accepting more users at the time because their server is at maximum capacity.
The competition: Their competitors are other companies, such as GrubHub and Foodler, that provide online ordering from restaurants.
"The Pitch" takes a look at a company, its executives and its technology-related business plan. To nominate your company for The Pitch section of Mass High Tech, please fill out the submission form.
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