Restaurant Tech Platform Sunday Raises Another $21M for U.S., Global Expansion

Sunday, a European tech company that got its start improving the payment experience for diners, has raised another $21 million to continue its U.S. expansion from Atlanta and target other key global markets. 

Sunday’s initial value proposition was enabling diners to pay and even split checks on their own, eliminating the awkward wait between finishing a meal and forking over a credit card.

Restaurants, the company says, have used the app to turn over tables faster (shaving 12 minutes per check), while diners gain added convenience and servers earn higher tips on average (up 11 percent over the market).  

But the capital raise demonstrates how the company’s offering has rapidly evolved from the “QR on the table” to a full-scale hospitality platform helping restaurants collect guest feedback and data, drive loyalty and reduce friction in the dining experience. Sunday plans to introduce kiosks for quick-service restaurants even while offering a tailored experience for James Beard- or Michelin-star-winning restaurants. 

The raise also shows how fixing payments can be an on-ramp for solving a broader set of consumer problems while helping venues focus on what they do best: food and hospitality. 

In the digital era, with artificial intelligence already making waves, Sunday is increasingly focused on helping connect restaurants with their customers once a digital touchpoint is established, often during the checkout process.

Sunday says 83 percent of the 80 million diners who scan QR codes use Sunday to pay, while 67 percent leave feedback and 56 percent share their email, numbers Sunday says are 13 times and 18 times more than the industry average.  

The series B capital raise led by DST Global Partners comes as Sunday has seen explosive growth, with transaction volume more than doubling in the last year, eclipsing $250 million in August to reach an average of $4 billion per year. See full stats here

The investment also comes on top of two previous funding rounds, a $24 million seed round and that saw the company expand to the U.S. from its Paris roots, then a $100 million round aiming to fuel expansion across North America, augmenting offices in the U.K. and Spain. Sunday also used that round of funds to acquire a company in Montreal.

The U.S. has become the company’s “largest and most dynamic market,” says Christine de Wendel, an Atlanta native who returned from more than a decade building e-commerce startups in France to become U.S. CEO. The funds will be used to expand in key cities like Los Angeles, Austin and Washington, but Atlanta, the epicenter of payments for the United States, continues to be headquarters. 

“Atlanta is the natural spot for Sunday’s U.S. headquarters, and continues to serve as our home base,” Ms. de Wendel told Global Atlanta in an email. “The city has a vibrant hospitality culture and fast-growing tech scene, and we’ve thrived with our roots planted here. And on a personal level, as an Atlanta native, it’s incredibly fulfilling to watch the business thrive here.”

Tellingly, Sunday integrates with more than 50 other platforms, including Toast, Lightspeed, NCR, and Paytronix. Other fintechs with Atlanta bases have benefited from proximity to industry-leading payments providers. 

For Ms. de Wendel, who co-founded the company with Tigrane Seydoux and Victor Lugger of Big Mamma Restaurant Group, a chain with operations in France and the U.K., landing in Atlanta was both an exciting homecoming and an massive opportunity, she told Global Atlanta in a 2021 interview. 

Ms. De Wendel, a graduate of Atlanta International School, went to Georgetown University to become a diplomat but got hung up on the oral part of the foreign service exam and went into management consulting, kick-starting her journey into the business world. At 40, with her kids out of the baby stage, she finally found the space to help start a transformative company. Read more on her journey here

Even with its focus on helping U.S. restaurants “run better, serve faster, and deepen relationships with guests,” Sunday continues to grow in Europe and beyond, using lessons in one market to benefit others, she said. 

“In terms of our continued global presence, Sunday is widely used acrossFrance, Italy, and the U.K., and alongside our expansion in the U.S., we’re also excited to enter the United Arab Emirates, a booming premium hospitality market, next year,” Ms. De Wendel told Global Atlanta. “This international DNA continues to shape how we build our platform. We bring proven hospitality concepts from Europe and adapt them for unique U.S. markets, using global learnings to build a platform shaped by how restaurants operate day to day.”