Artificial intelligence-powered restaurant platform startup Malou today announced that it has raised $10 million in new funding to accelerate growth in France, enhance product functionality and expand internationally, particularly in the U.S. and the Middle East.

Founded in 2021, Malou offers an AI-powered platform designed to enhance the digital presence of restaurants. The platform provides a range of features to help restaurants with their online reputation, visibility and customer engagement.

The platform offers a centralized hub, integrating a restaurant’s Google page, social media profiles and listing and delivery platforms. AI and automation are then used to analyze and generate responses to customer reviews, generate social media posts and maintain consistent information to enhance the restaurants’ online presence, search engine optimization, visibility and social media engagement.

Malou claims its platform’s comprehensive approach manages and improves the entire relationship between restaurants and their customers, from discovery and conversion to customer satisfaction monitoring and loyalty building. The company also offers personalized support designed to adapt to restaurant needs and their stage of development.

Malou currently has 2,000 restaurants on board across 12 countries, including independents, food chains, top chefs and high-profile restaurant groups. Notable among its customers are Bagatelle Group and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc.

Investors in the round included henQ Inc., Bleu Capital Management LP, Bertrand Jelensperger, the founder of The Fork, and Jim Texier, former chief product officer at Lightspeed Management Co. LLC.

“Malou’s team has been able to translate their deep understanding of marketing for restaurants into a ‘hyper-verticalized’ solution which optimizes all aspects of a restaurant’s online presence automatically,” said Mick Mackaay, a partner at lead investor henQ. “This leads to more visitors without forcing owners to become marketing experts. The team has further impressed us with their ability to get this solution into the hands of many restaurants, a notoriously hard target group to sell to.”

Image: Malou