Cherry — Split The Check Right From Your Phone
Cherry’s app gives restaurant and bar-goers access to the check right from their phone, and increase efficiency and revenue for restaurants and bars
The Problem
Restaurant and bar-goers hate waiting for the check and dealing with the awkward payment-splitting process. Restaurants and bars operate on slim profit margins and are eagerly seeking solutions to increase revenues and efficiency.
What The Company Does
With Cherry, users can open, split, and pay for restaurant and bar tabs directly from their smartphone. This allows customers to leave on their own time and removes the kinks involved with splitting the check amongst party members. For businesses, Cherry increases server efficiency, customer satisfaction, and average tab and tip values without the need for any additional hardware or operational complications.
The Market
Restaurant and bar sales in the U.S. are projected to be $899 billion dollars in 2020, and the global mobile payments market is expected to grow to $4.7 trillion by 2025 with a 27% CAGR. Competition includes companies like Rooam and Toast, however they do not allow consumers to split the check.
Business Model
For consumers, Cherry charges a 3% service fee on the total tab value. The dynamic fee is floored at $0.50 and capped at $2. Cherry is free for businesses during the first three years of operation, after which Cherry will charge a $200 monthly subscription fee through a SaaS model.
Traction
The company hasn’t built out the platform yet, so they don’t officially have any users, but Cherry does have more than 50 customer interviews obtaining feedback on their idea and app mockups, and has also received great feedback.
Founding Team Background
The company is made up of three Brown University students with a variety of different backgrounds and work experiences. Emily Kompelien is a junior at Brown from Minnesota; Leopold Groos is a senior at Brown from London; and Pierson L’Esperance is a senior at Brown from New York City.
What They Need Help With
Cherry is currently looking to put together a team of software engineers that can help it build out the platform. More specifically, Cherry is looking for people who have experience with mobile software development and/or point-of-sales system integrations. Connect with the Cherry team.
Subscribe To The Buzz To Get More Startups In Your Inbox
