PopID, the Universal Authentication Service Trusted by Consumers and Merchants, Closes Series A Financing
Round Includes Leading Tech Investors and Restaurant Operators
PRESS RELEASE UPDATED: APR 17, 2019 07:00 EDT
PASADENA, Calif., April 17, 2019 (Newswire.com) – Cali Group, a food tech holding company, announced today that PopID, a company co-founded and seeded by Cali Group, has closed a $5M Series A financing. Wavemaker led the round, and Cali Group made a significant follow on investment. Other investors in the deal included franchise operators of some of the largest global restaurant brands and owners of Stoner’s Pizza Joint, Park Burger, and Bird Call. Inflection Capital and NRD Capital, a private equity firm with substantial restaurant holdings, also participated.
PopID is rapidly building a two-sided marketplace comprised of: (1) registered consumers that prefer to use one face authentication service for various purposes across multiple channels; and (2) brick and mortar merchants that install PopID software on their kiosks, POS systems, and payment terminals. Consumers register for PopID to increase convenience and also have more personalized experiences in brick and mortar environments, and merchants utilize PopID to reduce ordering time and credit card processing fees. PopID is currently focused on the restaurant industry; the platform is being used by various restaurant operators on or near a dozen college campuses and thousands of college students. As the network of registered users increases in the future, the company plans to move into other uses of its face gateway in retail payments, ticketing, and building entry. Consumers will be able to register for PopID once and use it throughout their daily lives.
“The number of restaurant operators investing in this round illustrates the benefits of PopID for both merchants and Millennial consumers,” said John Miller, Chairman of Cali Group and acting CEO of PopID. “We are seeing a network effect for growth of this platform: every new merchant that purchases PopID software for operational and cost reasons results in thousands of new PopID registered users; and the rapid increase in registered users is resulting in larger chains seeking to adopt the technology.”
PopID leveraged Cali Group’s infrastructure for incubating new restaurant technology products. PopID was tested and optimized in the CaliBurger restaurant chain owned by Cali Group. Cali Group has also co-founded and made substantial investments in Super League Gaming, Miso Robotics, and Kitchen United.
ABOUT PopID:
PopID is a universal gateway for identity verification through facial recognition. Learn more about the PopID vision at PopID.com. For more information please contact Virginia Dadey, VDadey@popid.com or (917) 848-0748.
ABOUT CALI GROUP:
Cali Group is a holding company that comprises significant ownership positions in various technology companies developing software products to digitize and automate the brick and mortar world. Cali Group uses the brands in its restaurant operating division to prove out the viability of new technologies for the restaurant and retail industries. For more information, visit www.thecaligroup.com
