LightSpeed Retail Expands Into Restaurant Industry With Acquisition of Belgium’s POSIOS

Montreal-based LightSpeed Retail has announced a major push into the restaurant and bar sector with the acquisition of Belgium’s POSIOS.

Processing over $8.2 billion in transactions for approximately 21,000 customers, LightSpeed Retail appeared ready to grow after closing a $35 million Series B funding round led by iNovia Capital last month, with an assist from previous investors Accel Partners.

“Lightspeed’s strength is in creating technology that improves business operations and enables superior customer experiences. Expanding into hospitality responds to the massive demand we have seen in the past two years for a restaurant solution from Lightspeed, and furthers our vision to bring sophisticated, yet accessible technology to all of Main Street,” said Dax Dasilva, Founder and CEO of Lightspeed. “The addition of the POSIOS team brings a deep understanding of the complex hospitality industry to Lightspeed Restaurant and further underscores our commitment to investing and expanding in Europe.”

POSIOS has spent the last three years developing an app called POSIOS Restaurant Butler, for which they were awarded an Innovation Award of the Year in the “Services” category at a Belgian trade show in 2012. Led by Ghent natives Jan Hollez and Zhong Yuan Xu, the company opened a Singapore office last year.

Mr. Zhong will continue as LightSpeed Retail’s Director of Hospitality, remaining headquartered in Ghent.

The company’s LightSpeed Restaurant offering will be folded under the LightSpeed POS umbrella.

As well as providing the suite of mobile analytics provided to retail customers using LightSpeed Retail’s existing software, LightSpeed Restaurant will also allow restaurateurs to instantly update menus, integrate with accounting, facilitate table-side ordering and table-to-kitchen workflow, while facilitating customer rewards programs, greatly increasing recurring revenue from a loyal customer base.

With over 200 employees based primarily in Montreal, LightSpeed Retail now has offices in Silicon Valley, Olympia, Washington, New York City and now Ghent, Belgium.

Aside from simply providing point-of-sale (POS) technology, LightSpeed’s software also manages inventory, while keeping track of sales and allowing in-store sales associates to access the metrics they need to assist consumers on the shop floor.

Although Belgians pride themselves on mussels and fries, their national dish, Montreal quietly serves an equally great version, our subtle advantage being access to the best mussels in the world, via Prince Edward Island and the Magdalen Islands. Surely, an intra-company moules et frites battle royale could settle the question once and for all.