Romanian platform for online restaurant reservations raises EUR 0.5 mln for further development, expansion

ialoc, the Romanian platform for reservations and quick payments for the HoReCa industry, attracted an investment of EUR 500,000 from MaxyGo Invest Holding. The money will be used to develop the platform by adding fintech solutions and for international expansion, starting next spring.

The company said this is the third and most significant investment attracted so far. Before, ialoc had secured about EUR 300,000 in financing from GapMinder (2018), SeedBlink (2020), and Lister Capital.

“This investment came at a time we wanted to expand our services in the fintech area, especially since we know that the payment part - from receiving the bill to giving the tips - is an activity that involves a lot of time for employees in HoReCa, a segment that already suffers enormously from the lack of staff. We want to use the QR code payment solution that we launched this year and ialoc Business - a solution that restaurants use more frequently for reservation management - to streamline restaurant processes without affecting the customer experience,” said Cosmin Măgureanu, co-founder and CEO of ialoc.

“At the same time, the attracted funding will allow us to expand internationally, among the first targeted countries being two European countries where we are already having discussions with possible partners,” he added.

ialoc is a business established in 2017 and represents a suite of applications dedicated to HoReCa. ialoc users can reserve a table in over 2,000 restaurants in 16 cities in Romania. The company was founded by Cosmin Măgureanu, Emil Muhtu, Marcel Preda, Adrian Grigore, and Dragoș Badea.

So far, the ialoc app has been downloaded by more than 100,000 customers, and in August 2022, it seated approximately 34,500 customers at the restaurant tables.

By the end of 2023, the company wants to support more than 350 restaurants to become more efficient by digitizing the payment process at the table. Also, the founders aim for a turnover of EUR 1 million next year.

MaxyGo Invest Holding SA is a company founded in January 2022 with 56 shareholders owing stakes between 0.8% and 16.7%, including Călin Ile – President of the Romanian Hotel Association. The company was founded by Alexandru Apostol and Luciana Apostol, both holding 12.9% of the shares. MaxyGo Invest Holding SA also owns 96% of MaxyGo Credit IFN securities, following an investment made at the beginning of the year.

(Opening photo: ialoc team; photo source: the company)