E La Carte Orders Up $4M More for Restaurant Tech

Boston-to-Silicon Valley transplant E la Carte has raised $4 million in new funding, according to a report in TechCrunch. The round was led by Lightbank. The startup previously raised more than $1 million in angel capital from investors including John Landry, Roy Rodenstein, Dave Balter, Dave McClure, Joshua Schachter, and Paul Buchheit.

E la Carte, based in Palo Alto, CA, makes a tablet-based computer system for ordering and paying for food in restaurants. The seven-inch “Presto” tablet is custom-built for the restaurant environment and includes a built-in credit card reader.

The company, which started in 2008 and was a resident of Dogpatch Labs Cambridge before heading to Y Combinator last year, says it has more than 20 employees spread across offices in Silicon Valley, Boston, Chicago, and New York City.

E la Carte is led by co-founder Rajat Suri, a former MIT student who worked as a waiter at several restaurants in Cambridge, MA, as part of his product research. Suri told TechCrunch the company has signed up close to 100 eateries, including Pizzeria Venti and Umami Burger, with a waiting list of 150 more.

Author: Gregory T. Huang

Greg is a veteran journalist who has covered a wide range of science, technology, and business. As former editor in chief, he overaw daily news, features, and events across Xconomy's national network. Before joining Xconomy, he was a features editor at New Scientist magazine, where he edited and wrote articles on physics, technology, and neuroscience. Previously he was senior writer at Technology Review, where he reported on emerging technologies, R&D, and advances in computing, robotics, and applied physics. His writing has also appeared in Wired, Nature, and The Atlantic Monthly’s website. He was named a New York Times professional fellow in 2003. Greg is the co-author of Guanxi (Simon & Schuster, 2006), about Microsoft in China and the global competition for talent and technology. Before becoming a journalist, he did research at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Lab. He has published 20 papers in scientific journals and conferences and spoken on innovation at Adobe, Amazon, eBay, Google, HP, Microsoft, Yahoo, and other organizations. He has a Master’s and Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT, and a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.