Online pizzeria marketing platform ‘Slice’ raises $43M

Online order and marketing platform Slice is an end-to-end ordering and marketing platform that also helps local pizzerias build their digital and online marketing presence. The platform includes website development, digital marketing, online ordering, and payment processing for pizzerias. It has an easy to use interface, allowing local pizzerias to compete directly with international pizza chains and food delivery apps. Unlike other apps, Slice takes a nominal fee for the orders rather than a percentage-based commission from orders on its consumer app. This also allows pizzerias to retain a healthy and sustainable overall margin. Slice platform has more than 2,000 independent pizzerias across the US in 3000+ cities.

Earlier known as MyPizza, Slice introduced a mobile app and website where diners can order a custom pizza delivery from their local and independent pizzeria. For those pizzerias, CEO Ilir Sela stated that Slice helps to digitize the entire business by creating a website for them, improving their SEO and also allowing them to benefit from the “economies of scale” of the larger network, through bulk orders of supplies like pizza boxes. It raised the Series C funding round led by KKR Growth, and existing investors like GGV Capital, Primary Venture Partners, Teamworthy Ventures, RiverPark Ventures, Cross Creek, and WTI.

Sela developed his company’s approach with several popular food delivery apps that he terms as aggregators. Slice “anchors” the favorite pizzerias in the app, giving them the top slots and making it easy for customers to place their regular orders in just a few taps. “Our job is to make loyal customers even more loyal,” he said.

While services like Grubhub faced severe criticism for their steep fees, Sela stated that Slice’s cost is minimal and capped at $2.25 per order, allowing pizzerias to get all the upside from large orders.

As COVID-19 changed the restaurant environments drastically in the last few months, most pizzerias have set up for takeout and delivery orders. Sela stated that more than 90% of the 12,000-plus pizzerias that work with Slice are open. He also pointed to the company’s ‘Pizza vs Pandemic’ initiative, which raises funds for pizzerias to feed healthcare workers. The program has so far raised more than $470,000 and provided food to an estimated number of 140,000 workers.

“Local independent pizzerias have been feeding Americans across communities for decades, and we are excited to put our resources behind Slice as they help to move these businesses online,” said KKR Principal Allan Jean-Baptiste in a statement. “Slice charges small business owners a fraction of the fees charged by food delivery apps and offers a suite of vertical-specific solutions to solve the challenges faced by independent pizza makers.”

Slice previously raised a staggering $30 million. Sela stated that he would be using the new funding to bring on more pizzerias and continue building a “vertically integrated solution for the small businesses, to solve more and more of their challenges’.

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