Presto Completes $1B SPAC Merger to Go Public

Restaurant-technology startup Presto will have a valuation of about $1 billion when it goes public through special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Ventoux CCM Acquisition Corp., the companies told The Wall Street Journal Wednesday (Nov. 10). 

The $170 million Ventoux CCM SPAC, which is led by former hospitality execs and backed by investment bank Chardan Capital Markets LLC, has about $170 million and is led by several former hospitality executives. 

Presto’s suite of technology offerings helps to automate restaurants and improve the overall dining experience through kiosks and tablets that allow guests to pay and order at their tables. Customers can also order by talking to a device at drive-throughs and other settings through speech recognition, while restaurant owners can use computer vision and analytics to help optimize their daily operations. 

Presto is focused on helping restaurants minimize their face time and interactions with people as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread across the U.S. and around the world. It can also help these eateries overcome the labor shortage in the restaurant sector. 

McDonald’s Corp., Applebee’s and Chili’s are among Presto’s high-profile customers. 

“We need to move fast because the brakes are on right now for the entire industry,” said Presto Chief Executive Rajat Suri. “We can grease the wheels with the right technology.” 

Presto is expected to raise about $70 million in a private investment in public equity (PIPE), including some of the restaurants who rely on the company’s services. 

Related: Restaurant Brands Can Leverage Digital-Only Items, Personalization to Gain Digital Customers 

PYMNTS’ The Bring-It-to-Me Economy: How Online Marketplaces and Aggregators Drive Omnichannel Commerce report, a collaboration with Carat from Fiserv, found that 58% of the 5,200-plus U.S. consumers surveyed are ordering food online more often than before March 2020. 

Data from the 2021 Restaurant Readiness Index, created in collaboration with Paytronix, shows that 64% of all quick-service restaurant (QSR) orders come from digital channels, including pickup, third-party aggregators, mobile order-ahead and online delivery. 

NPD Group research shows that overall digital and physical visits to restaurants in September 2021 were down 6% from September 2019.