[Startup Bharat] A SaaS-based app to help restaurants manage online orders efficiently

Foodtech giants such as Zomato, Swiggy, and hyperlocal delivery services such as Dunzo, have enabled restaurants — big and small — to digitise themselves and serve more customers. 

Moreover, due to the outbreak of COVID-19, as restaurants are unable to offer dine-in services, there is an increased demand for online ordering and home delivery of food. 

While online orders contribute to sales, restaurants may face difficulty in managing a high volume of orders from multiple online channels.

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After seeing their restaurateur friends struggle to manage their flow of orders from online channels, Kochi-based Abdul Salah and Muhammed Migdad realised that most restaurants use four to five apps at the same time. 

To solve this and help restaurants manage their online orders from one platform, the duo launched Lasper Technologies in 2017.

Earlier, the team tried testing several applications for pre-ordering and PoS solutions but eventually, last April, launched a SaaS-based web app called Foaps.

“Foaps integrates all online orders from across multiple channels, allowing restaurants to accept and manage them using a single platform,” Abdul tells YourStory.

Manage and streamline online orders

Abdul explains that once a customer places an online food order — using Zomato, Swiggy or Dunzo — the restaurant is alerted on their Foaps dashboard. 

Once the restaurant accepts the order, the ticket will automatically get printed in the kitchen to let the staff know about the order. When the order is prepared, the restaurant can use Foaps to inform the delivery personnel for pick up.

“We are giving a single platform where all these steps can be tracked and managed. The platform eliminates the need for having multiple applications and manual processes to passing on the order to the kitchen,” Abdul explains.

The Foaps platform also helps restaurant manage their inventory across platforms with one click by marking a particular item as ‘sold out’ or ‘not available’.

Foaps analyses data from these online orders to help the restaurants get actionable insights on what kind of orders are doing well, which channels are better for business, and so on, so that they can strategise accordingly.

At present, Foaps can receive orders from Zomato, Swiggy, Foodpanda, Amazon Restaurant, and Dunzo, and the services are available in Kochi, Calicut, and Trivandrum.

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Business and more

Abdul says that the startup operates on a pay per platform, per month model. It charges Rs 699 per platform — Zomato, Swiggy, Dunzo, etc. — on a monthly basis. 

“We also provide a discounted annual subscription model to the restaurants. If they choose the annual plan, there is a discount of Rs 2400,” he adds.

Incubated at Kerala Startup Mission, the startup raised funds a part of Flat6Labs seed program Bahrain in 2019 and is now looking to raise another round of funding.

Since its launch, Foaps has processed 300,000 orders, claims the co-founder. The startup counts several Kochi-based restaurants such as Ceylon Bake House, Ming's Wok, Haji Ali, The Shap among others as its clients.

According to a report by Research and Markets, the Indian foodtech segment is expected to reach Rs 1,868.19 billion by 2025 growing at a CAGR of 39 percent, posing a huge opportunity for the startup.

At present, Foaps is working to integrate with local online delivery platforms. Going forward, it is also looking to expand its presence across the country.