'Smart table' creator ePOS Hybrid targets £250,000 with crowdfunding campaign

Tech start-up ePOS Hybrid is targeting a string of new investors as it seeks to raise £250,000, adding to funding recently secured from US backers.

Bhas Kalangi (left) is founder of ePOS Hybrid and Andrew Gibbon is head of growth. Picture: Contributed

The hospitality-focused fintech, which aims to revolutionise the food and drink industry with its customised electronic point of sale (ePOS) products, has pushed the button on a month-long crowdfunding campaign to “rapidly scale” its operations and boost marketing and sales activities.

It has already secured more than half of its overall target, with £150,000 of private funding pledged in the six days before the campaign went public.

This comes after ePOS Hybrid recently landed a $50,000 (£38,000) investment from a Silicon Valley-based company and celebrated inking a new contract with a UK-wide fast food operator.

The start-up, which is currently taking on an average of 75 new clients each month, has developed what it claims is the “world’s most advanced” ePOS platform for the hospitality industry.

Its system allows customer self-checkouts and supports the UK’s only interactive “smart tables”, which allow diners to play games, call a waiter and design their own pizza from their seat.

Since its product launch in April, ePOS Hybrid has built a portfolio of more than 200 clients across Scotland, England and Wales as well as further afield in Australia and India. It is on target to reach 500 clients by May.

Andrew Gibbon, head of growth at ePOS Hybrid, said: “The launch of the campaign and the momentum it has already generated, especially from US investors, has brought great excitement amongst the team. The launch of this funding round represents an exciting next chapter in our business’s success.

“The crowdfund will allow us to supercharge our customer onboarding through investment across our marketing and sales activity. We’ve spent the last six months implementing sustainable growth strategies, achieving effective lead generation and low customer acquisition costs, and we’re now in a position to rapidly scale.

“We’re currently growing our customer onboarding to 75 new clients every month, and this funding round will allow us to create new jobs to help facilitate our ever-growing customer sign-ups and wider business development.”

To support growth ambitions ePOS Hybrid has also made a series of senior appointments, bringing the management team to a six-strong unit with experience across IT, technology and high-growth start-ups.

Founder Bhas Kalangi added: “This deal represents our focus on delivering our technology to both SME [small and medium-sized enterprises] and enterprise organisations throughout the UK.

“Our management team bring a wealth of experience to the business which has allowed us refine and scale far quicker than originally anticipated.

“84 per cent of food and drink operators are still using little to no technology in their operations – as a result they’re struggling to meet consumer demand. Crowdfunding will enable us roll out our technology to help transform more businesses in the hospitality industry.”