Cake launches funding round to bake up UK & LA expansion plans

Brainchild of two former corporate financiers, Michelle Songy and Charlotte Kohlmann, Cake’s mobile payment app is used to share and pay bar and restaurant bills. In a Cake-registered restaurant or bar, users can access the easy-to-navigate app to allocate drinks or food to friends in the group and pay or split the bill as they choose. There’s no need to leave a card with the venue. Payment is fast, easy and secure.

Kohlmann, 29, co-founder and CEO, said: “We saw a gap in the food and drink service market when we launched with faster and easier way for friends to share and then pay their restaurant or bar bills. When people can pay faster, they are happier. And restaurants can serve more customers and build a reputation for fast and efficient service.”

Cake is live in more than 20 restaurants and bars so far, including Comptoir Libanais and The Rum Kitchen in Soho. The service will expand to more than 100 sites by the end of the year. Company headcount will bloom from 16 to 50 by the end of 2017.

The company is also offering deals for investors:

For investors snapping up £1,000 or more of equity in the company, £50 of credit will be provided on the Cake app to spend at any registered venue

Investors at £10,000 enjoy a year’s supply of champagne plus other benefits

More sophisticated investors at £100,000 get £2,000 of Cake credit in addition to all of the previous rewards

Investors at £250,000 can choose between the world’s most extravagant dinner party or dinner out every week for five years

Luke Lang, co-founder of Crowdcube, said: ‘More businesses are coming onto Crowdcube for their second or third funding rounds, which represents a real shift in the size of business funding on our site. Investors now have a choice of innovative start-ups and more established, growing businesses run by seasoned entrepreneurs. Three quarters of our funded businesses are growth or early-stage.”