Going Dutch: Restaurant app Flipdish embarks on European expansion

16 Aug 2018

Delft, the Netherlands. Image: Milosz Maslanka/Shutterstock

Fresh after raising €2m, Irish start-up Flipdish is on an acquisition trail.

Irish start-up Flipdish has acquired Eindhoven-based restaurant platform OSMB Westphalia BV for an undisclosed sum.

The acquisition adds 150 new restaurants in the Netherlands and Belgium to the Flipdish platform.

‘Over the last two years, we have built up our business in the Benelux region and we manage the online ordering for some of the biggest food brands in the area’
– MICHEL JANSSEN

“We are thrilled to be able to help restaurants around Europe succeed online, and this acquisition marks our first step in helping the hundreds of thousands of restaurants in mainland Europe,” said Flipdish CEO Conor McCarthy.

In July, we reported that Flipdish raised €2m in funding from Dublin-based investment firm Elkstone Partners, bringing the total funding raised to date by the tech start-up to almost €3m.

Meals and deals

Launched in 2015 by James and Conor McCarthy, the Dublin-based start-up has developed an online ordering platform for the restaurant and takeaway market. It builds individual apps and websites branded under each client’s own name, increasing customer loyalty and retention.

Flipdish has more than 500 stores using its platform in Ireland with a potential market in excess of 4,000.

It also has 100 UK stores with a potential market of 40,000. The size of the wider European market is potentially 700,000 stores.

To date, Flipdish clients include Mao, Bombay Pantry, Chopped, Centra, Londis, Macari’s and Base Wood Fired Pizza, among others.

This acquisition gives the Irish company a solid footprint in mainland Europe, jump-starting its growth on the wider continent.

“Over the last two years, we have built up our business in the Benelux region and we manage the online ordering for some of the biggest food brands in the area,” said Michel Janssen, director and primary shareholder of OSMB Westphalia BV.

“We realised that we were not able to offer an excellent online ordering experience to these customers, and six months ago we started looking for the best online ordering platform for our customers.

“After extensive research, we found Flipdish to be the world leader in this area. Flipdish offers a class-leading, reliable and fully featured online ordering system, and our customers will see significant increase in online orders by moving to Flipdish.”

Delft, the Netherlands. Image: Milosz Maslanka/Shutterstock

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com