This five-month-old French startup wants to simplify restaurant payment processes, raises €85.35M

Paris-based Sunday, a payment solution for restaurant customers, announced that it has raised $100M (approx €85.35M) in its Series A equity round of funding.

Launched just five months ago in April 2021, this is the company’s second round of financing. Sunday had raised $24M (approx €20.48M) in its Seed round of funding.

Investors

The current round was led by Coatue, a private equity firm whose investments focus on technology, media and telecom industries. Partners of DST Global and other investors from the restaurant, hospitality, and technology industries also participated in the fundraiser.

Philippe Laffont, founder of Coatue, says, “Digital payment solutions are enhancing the customer experience across the board. We believe that Sunday is well-positioned to drive this change in the large hospitality sector as evidenced by its strong global growth in just the first five months since going to market. We look forward to supporting the team to help further accelerate their expansion.”

Fund utilisation

The proceeds from the round will help Sunday accelerate its growth and expansion in the $7.5T addressable market.

The company will expand to different geographies and hire in North America. The funds will also enable Sunday to expand its product offerings such as ordering, payment, and loyalty through internal development and acquisition in Europe and North America.

By the end of 2022, Sunday plans to integrate 100 POSes, sign 15,000 restaurants on its platform, and double its team.

Co-founder Christine de Wendel says, “This new investment round is a remarkable opportunity for Sunday to build a powerful tech stack and develop new product features such as ordering & loyalty programs. It also allows us to accelerate in the US market by growing our sales, operations, and partnerships teams. We are now in a very good position to hire top talent to drive the speed and stellar execution needed to succeed.”

“Sunday – most simple way to get paid”

Sunday simplifies the payment process for restaurant customers by enabling them to pay the bill in under 10 seconds using QR codes. Diners don’t have to download any app. With a smartphone and internet, diners scan a QR code, split the bill, leave a tip, pay, and walk away. 

Sunday claims that this also helps restaurateurs focus on what matters most for them: cooking food and delivering a great guest experience.

The restaurant payment solution was co-founded by Atlanta tech leader and e-commerce veteran Christine de Wendel in April 2021. The company’s other co-founders include Victor Lugger and Tigrane Seydoux of European restaurant group Big Mamma fame.

Since its launch, the company claims to have witnessed positive endorsements from consumers and restaurant owners alike, resulting in more than 1 million users and more than 1,500 restaurants onboarded globally. Some of these restaurants include US-based Bastille, Happy Cooking Hospitality who own brands like Jolene, Jeffrey’s Grocery, Joseph Leonard, and  Fairfax, Alice NYC, Calissa, Osteria 57, Sofreh, Earl, Buckhead Life, and Red Beard Restaurants.

Since its inception, the company has also hired 170 employees across five countries – the US, UK, Spain, France, and Canada.

Sunday’s massive growth

Sunday’s introduction to restaurants has been well received by both consumers and restaurateurs. Some statistics shared by the company are:

• More than 1,500 onboarded restaurants representing an annual transaction volume of $1.59B
• Over 1,100,000 end users have paid with Sunday
• More than 2,000 servers have received payments via Sunday
• Over $1M in tips have been given with Sunday (40 per cent higher than without it)
• 12 per cent higher basket spend per table
• 10 per cent faster table turnover

Within weeks of the launch, restaurants in the UK, France, and Spain began rolling out Sunday. The company made partnerships with POS (Point of Sale) systems software such as Micros, NCR, Square, Positouch, Brink, Upserve, and Lightspeed, and other popular payment gateways such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, Amex, Visa & Mastercard.