Ever wonder how restaurants make food, deliver customer service AND fill online and phone orders from multiple platforms? How do they manage the growing number of delivery services while running a restaurant?
Apptopus co-founder and CEO, Daniel Hernandez, understands the struggle from first-hand experience. As the son of a local chef and restaurant owner, Hernandez watched his mother and other local business owners struggle to keep track of multiple online platforms while simultaneously making food and filling orders.
âEver since I can remember, she would come to me for help, with online services, with anything technology-related,â said Hernandez. âShe was also part of a group of Latino entrepreneurs in the area who also had businesses. Once they found out I was helping my mom with all of these services, they came to me to ask for help.â
Hernandez saw the growing opportunity to help restaurants manage online services and The Apptopus was born.
The Apptopus integrates delivery servicesâ such as DoorDash, GrubHub, and UberEatsâ into one dashboard, optimizes online menus, and provides real-time sale reports, allowing restaurants to focus on food instead of managing multiple apps.
âWeâre helping small to medium-sized restaurants adopt or manage their technology services so that they donât have to deal with all of these services and different dashboards because they struggle to keep track with whatâs going on, plus whatâs going on inside the restaurant,â said Hernandez.
Hernandez pitched at this yearâs Startup Investment & Community Capital Expo (SICC) and met one of the companyâs key investors at the SICC 2019 Expo. Hernandez also credits SICC for connecting him with one of his trusted advisors, Alfredo Mathew III, co-founder of ESO Ventures.
âIâve actually met a couple of people who have become advisors and provided feedback with my pitch, with my deck. [Matthews] went as far as to introduce me to one of his designer guys to help redefine the deck. A lot of the graphics used in my deck are ones that were designed by the guy he has on retainer.â
Today The Apptopus is rapidly expanding throughout Santa Cruz County to help small to medium-sized restaurants manage and increase their online orders.
âIâm excited to continue to expand,â said Hernandez. âWeâre currently at 70+ restaurants in cities across California. The goal is to take it nationwide and hopefully be able to help as many small and medium-sized restaurants as we possibly can.â