High-end, London-based hospitality platform Velocity has acquired US mobile payments startup Cover, while also unveiling an additional $4m in funding, having already raised $12m in June.
The company “connects premier restaurants with affluent diners”, offering mobile payments and loyalty schemes to its users.
It is already live in New York, San Fran and London and the team has raked in 21 Michelin stars so far among its participating restaurants.
This is the first acquisition for Velocity and in order to further expand its global footprint, the company is looking to make further acquisitions in other markets.
“This deal accelerates our growth in the largest market of the $3.5trn restaurant industry,” Alex Macdonald, Velocity cofounder and co-CEO, told Tech City News.
“The fact that it reverses the recent trend of US companies acquiring UK businesses is a statement of both our ambition as well as our confidence that we will be able to build Velocity as the leading global hospitality platform.”
“We see ourselves as a hospitality company first, and a technology company second – a value shared with our newly expanded US team.”
The additional greenshoe round was led by Lars Christensen of Saxo Bank CEO, who is also co-owner of 2-Michelin-starred restaurant Geranium in Copenhagen.
The acquisition of Cover adds Spark Capital, OATV and Lerer Ventures to Velocity’s roster of shareholders, which includes angels Tom Glocer, who is the former CEO of Thomson-Reuters, and Shukri Shammas, partner at Initial Capital.