Toronto-based Digital Main Street and ventureLAB are launching a new pilot with Belgian-founded startup Deliverect to offer a delivery optimization solution to Toronto restaurants this winter.
“We are confident that Deliverect can make restaurants thrive this winter by managing their online sales in a way that increases sales.”
Through the pilot, Deliverect’s solution will connect UberEats, Doordash, SkipTheDishes, and other delivery companies directly to restaurants’ POS system in order to automate the online order process. Deliverect’s platform aims to alleviate the requirement to have staff maintain multiple tablets for delivery orders, reducing mistakes and wait times for customers.
At least 100 independently-owned restaurants are expected to receive free access to the
platform for 90 days through the pilot. Funding behind the project was not disclosed.
“It’s no secret that restaurants are facing challenges and we are here to help,” said Jerome Laredo, chief revenue officer at Deliverect. “We are confident that Deliverect can make restaurants thrive this winter by managing their online sales in a way that increases sales and improves guest experience.”
Deliverect was founded in Ghent, Belgium by CEO Zhong Yuan Xu, CTO Jan Hollez, and CIO Jelte Vrijhoef.
Xu was previously the founder of mobile hospitality POS company POSIOS, acquired by Montreal-based Lightspeed in 2014. From 2014 until 2013, he served as Lightspeed’s global director of hospitality before founding Deliverect. Deliverect now has global offices, including in Toronto, Paris, New York, and Madrid.
This pilot with Deliverect is being launched through Digital Main Street’s Community Collaboration Program. The program seeks to pilot solutions that target challenges facing main street small businesses. Pilot projects through the Community Collaboration Program will run until March.
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The Community Collaboration Program was one of three Digital Main Street programs launched in August under the Future Proof banner. Those programs were funded by a $57 million federal and provincial government commitment first announced in June.
Created by the Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas in 2016, Digital Main Street has worked with over 8,000 Toronto businesses and provided direct one-on-one support to over 2,500 businesses through training and education.
Digital Main Street has launched several initiatives for small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, the largest being ShopHERE powered by Google, which went national in the spring of last year, and received investments and support from Facebook, Shopify, Microsoft, and others.
Image source Unsplash. Photo by Maarten van den Heuvel.
