Monzo founder Tom Blomfield backs hospitality startup theUp.co
London-based theUp.co has secured a £7 million cash injection to support the expansion of its hospitality “super app”.
Investors include Jägermeister, former Monzo CEO, Tom Blomfield, and JamJar Investment.
theUp.co, which has raised £9 million in total to date, is the parent company of European phone charging network ChargedUp, venue operator platform and mobile order and pay app, ServedUp and hand sanitiser station network CleanedUp.
The cash will be invested in fuelling expansion across UK and Europe, new hires and building the aforementioned “super app”, set to launch in 2022 and unify the aforementioned brands.
“By unifying all of the brands under ChargedUp, we believe we can empower consumers and the trade through a full suite of digital solutions,” says Up.co Founder and Chief Executive, Hugo Tilmouth.
“Ultimately, we want to make hospitality as frictionless and data driven as e-commerce - think of it like the Amazon Go of hospitality.”
Blomfield comments: “Bars and restaurants were hit really hard in the pandemic, and some sadly closed. It's wonderful to see them now reopening, and our cities coming back to life.”
“I'm delighted to be a backer of ChargedUp, a company that's playing an integral part in that recovery by making it incredibly quick and simple for customers to order and pay. I think Hugo and Charlie (Baron, co-founder) are going to build a really special company.”
Christoph Goeken, MD at Best Nights VC, the innovation and investment unit of Mast-Jägermeister SE, says: “We backed ChargedUp to build a digital and physical network in hospitality venues and with the launch of ServedUp the team have taken this further to achieve the best night out experience, with technology at the core.”
