The series B is led by Drive Capital.
NoWait, the waiting-list management app developer, has closed a $10m series B led by Drive Capital. The round also included existing investors: the Pittsburgh-based accelerator AlphaLab, and venture capital firms Birchmere Ventures, Innovation Works and Sand Hill Angels.
The company previously raised $5.5m in a seed round and series A. Carnegie Mellon University participated in the series A, and granted the company $50,000 in June 2012 as part of its Open Field Entrepreneurship Fund as well as provided mentorship. Carnegie Mellon, of which NoWait CEO Robb Myer is an alumnus, holds a 5% stake in the company.
NoWait has developed a smartphone app which lets customers see nearby restaurants, wait times and join wait lists. The app then alerts customers via text message or push notification when their table is ready. Restaurants can also send brief marketing messages along with the notification to promote specials or appetisers.
The company, which counts 25 employees, is growing rapidly. The company has seated more than 50 million people around the US, Canada and Puerto Rico to date, and is now averaging 5 million customers per month, up from 3.1 million at the beginning of the year. The company will use the series B to hire more staff and add new features to its app.
Ware Sykes, chief executive, said about the company’s long-term plan to develop a pay-when-ready functionality: “If you do not want to wait around for a table, why wait around for your check?”