Digital menu company Conceptic Ltd. is developing interactive interfaces for restaurants and cafes. While the restaurant and catering industry is not considered high-tech, restaurants, cafes, and catering businesses have started to go onto the Internet, and are even offering online purchases. Conceptic looks to bring more high-tech to the industry.
Conceptic CEO Adi Chitayat, CFO Lior Gazit, software team leader Lior Chen-Tov, and COO Idan Sandomirski founded the company in 2005. The company's eMenu for restaurants, cafes, and pubs offers customers digital menus on computer screens at their tables. Chitayat says, "Our software offers customers a digital menu where they can order items from the touch screen."
In addition to increasing sales, the eMenu has other advantages. One is its entertainment value, offering games that can improve the family experience at the restaurant, or social games, such as online conversations with diners at other tables, which is very suitable for pubs.
Conceptic has installed the eMenu at 35 cafes and restaurant chains in Israel to date, including Cafe Cafe and Burgos. The Israeli market serves as a pilot for the company, which is targeting Europe and America. The company has a presence in the Netherlands, Belgium, France, and Russia, and is about to sign a deal for the US market.
Conceptic has raised $1.5 million to date from private investors including chairman Daniel Cohen and Brian Cooper. Cohen was a director of Micros Fidelio UK Ltd. Cooper is a co-founder and advisor of Retalix Ltd. (Nasdaq: RTLX; TASE: RTLX), Yitzhak Sela, and Ilan Ramot. The company is currently seeking to raise an additional $1 million to finance its international expansion.
Chitayat says, "We have a good chance to succeed precisely now, because cafes and restaurants need to find things that will differentiate them from competitors. Our product enables them to do this." He predicts that the company will become profitable in 18 months.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 28, 2008
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