Restaurant Industry’s Secret Weapon Moves into New Brick & Mortar Battlegrounds, Investing in AI and Machine Learning for Predictive Marketing

Punchh, a leading Restaurant Marketing Cloud, has announced a new round of Series B venture funding. Punchh raised $20 million in funding led by Sapphire Ventures, which funds category-leading growth technology companies, with participation from Cervin Ventures, bringing their total funding to $31 million. The funds will be used to expand the Punchh Marketing Cloud to new industries and roll out predictive marketing capabilities using AI and machine learning.

Punchh is also releasing a new product, Punchh Acquire, which converts anonymous customers into brand loyalists through a broad array of channels including Wifi, SMS, social platforms, Apple Pay, eClub and others. The new Punchh Acquire product, previously available only as a Private Beta, is now available to all Punchh customers and is currently being rolled out by Del Taco, Noodles & Co., Pei Wei, Focus Brands, and others.

Punchh’s new AI and machine learning tools will empower brick and mortar retailers with the same data-driven, omnichannel marketing strategies that have allowed digital merchants to continually gain market share. By enhancing the Punchh marketing platform with intelligent and predictive consumer profiles, marketers at every level can create impactful, custom campaigns and offers across national, local, or even weather-based strata.

Punchh is the only marketing solution in the world to combine this array of Omnichannel marketing opportunities with AI-driven marketing.

At the time of this announcement, Shyam Rao, CEO and co-founder of Punchh, said, “Companies like Amazon have digital, data-driven, and tailored 1-1 marketing down to a science, while brick and mortar retailers are left data-blind and forced to spray and pray – they don’t learn from your past purchases, can’t recommend products they know you’ll buy, and they aren’t able to send the right offers to you at just the right time.” said

Shyan added, “Consumers that choose to do their shopping online as opposed to going to the store aren’t lazy – online retailers are simply doing a better job at knowing their customers and keeping them loyal with delightful and customized shopping experiences.”

Rao added, “The tools to compete with Amazon do exist and, as Punchh customers like Pizza Hut and Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf can attest, brick and mortar retailers now have the tools to identify customers, predict behaviors and execute custom campaigns on the fly that fundamentally increase lifetime customer value.”

Punchh dominates the restaurant marketing world with customers including Pizza Hut, Quiznos, Smashburger, Del Taco and The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. In addition to the fundraising event and product launches, Punchh has announced the intention to broaden their focus beyond the realm of restaurants and into new vertical markets including Health & Beauty and Convenience Stores, with more to follow. As part of the push into new markets, Punchh is also announcing the launch of Fantastic Sams hair care along with TruFusion, a wildly popular chain of Yoga, Pilates, Barre and Cycling health and fitness stores.

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Jai Das, Managing Director, Sapphire Ventures, said, “Punchh is already a global leader in digital marketing solutions for restaurants, which alone would be a fantastic reason to invest in the company. But, the scope of their technology goes far beyond just restaurants and encompasses all brick-and-mortar stores with a POS. We are excited to bring our global network and expertise to help the Punchh team scale their platform to meet the massive, global opportunity of providing Amazon-like customer insights to brick-and-mortar retailers.”

Punchh’s network of restaurant customers includes more than 100 restaurant chains across the globe, representing more than $12B in annual spend by 35 million consumers. Leading restaurant brands have already deployed the new Punchh Acquire product during its Beta test period, including Del Taco and Noodles & Company. Beyond the thousands of restaurants marketing via the Punchh network in the United States, Punchh products are employed in markets as varied as India, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

Currently, Punchh is a leader in innovative digital marketing products for brick and mortar retailers, combining AI and machine learning technologies, mobile-first expertise, and Omnichannel communications designed to dramatically increase lifetime customer value.

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