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Resy has raised $2.0M across 1 funding round.
Key people at Resy.
Resy was founded in 2014 by Gary Vaynerchuk (Co-Founder).
Resy has raised $2.0M in total across 1 funding round.
Resy builds and operates a sophisticated reservation and guest management platform for restaurants, coupled with a consumer-facing discovery tool. The company provides best-in-class software solutions that empower dining establishments to optimize their operations while connecting them to a dedicated network of engaged diners. Its platform acts as a comprehensive destination for both restaurant professionals and individuals seeking curated dining experiences globally.
The company was founded in 2014 by Gary Vaynerchuk, Ben Leventhal, and Michael Montero. Their collective insight stemmed from a desire to redefine the traditional restaurant reservation landscape. The founders aimed to develop technology that not only facilitated bookings but also provided significant operational value to restaurants, thereby fostering a more efficient and interconnected hospitality ecosystem.
Resy primarily serves restaurants, offering them robust tools for managing reservations and guest relationships, alongside a broad base of diners seeking access to high-demand venues and new culinary discoveries. The company's long-term vision is to advance the future of hospitality by powering the world’s leading restaurants with innovative technology. It continually strives to connect restaurant-lovers with exceptional dining experiences.
Key people at Resy.
Resy was founded in 2014 by Gary Vaynerchuk (Co-Founder).
Resy has raised $2.0M in total across 1 funding round.
Resy has raised $2.0M across 1 funding round. Most recently, it raised $2.0M Seed in July 2014.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 1, 2014 | $2M Seed | — | — | Announced |
Resy is a hospitality technology company offering an online restaurant reservation platform and management software that connects diners with top restaurants worldwide. It serves restaurants by providing tools for table optimization, CRM, and revenue growth, while consumers use its free app for seamless bookings at exclusive venues, solving pain points like no-shows (industry-low ~3%), scalper bots, and fragmented discovery.[1][2][3][5]
Founded in 2014, Resy powers over 16,000 restaurants globally (as of 2023), seating millions of diners weekly, and was acquired by American Express in 2019 to enhance dining perks for card members. Post-acquisition, it has expanded through integrations, events, and recent Amex buys like Tock and Rooam, fueling growth in digital dining amid rising demand for experiential hospitality tech.[1][3][4][7]
Resy was founded in 2014 in New York City by Ben Leventhal (co-founder of Eater.com, bringing restaurant industry expertise), Gary Vaynerchuk (entrepreneur, investor, and social media pioneer), and Michael Montero (co-founder/CTO of CrowdTwist).[1][2][6] The idea emerged from frustrations in the fragmented reservation market, aiming to create a superior platform for high-end dining that favored restaurants over diners, unlike predecessors like OpenTable.[1][7]
Early traction came quickly: The New York Times hailed it as a top portal just three months post-launch. In 2017, it raised $13M from investors like Airbnb and RSE Ventures. Key pivots included 2018 acquisitions of competitor Reserve and Spain's ClubKviar, plus Airbnb listing integrations. The 2019 American Express acquisition marked a pivotal moment, integrating Resy into Amex's app for rewards users and accelerating global scale.[1][2][3][6]
Resy rides the wave of digital transformation in hospitality, where post-pandemic diners crave experiential, app-first bookings amid labor shortages and revenue pressures on restaurants. Timing aligns with Amex's dining push—acquiring Resy in 2019, then Tock and Rooam by 2025—to dominate a fragmented market valued in billions, countering OpenTable's legacy hold.[1][3][7]
Market forces like rising fine-dining demand, global expansion (despite 2024 UK shutdown), and data privacy regs favor Resy's Amex-backed scale and low no-show tech. It influences the ecosystem by empowering independents with enterprise tools, fostering loyalty via rewards, and setting standards for bot-proof, equitable reservations that benefit operators and guests alike.[1][2][7]
Under CEO Pablo Rivera, Resy is poised to deepen Amex integration, leveraging acquisitions like Tock for ticketing and Rooam for payments to build an end-to-end global dining platform. Trends like AI-driven personalization, surging experiential dining, and embedded finance will shape its path, potentially expanding to 20,000+ restaurants amid hospitality's tech boom.[7]
Its influence may evolve from reservation leader to hospitality OS, blending software, perks, and data for unmatched access—cementing Resy's role as the go-to for powering the world's best restaurants in a diner-obsessed era.[7]
