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Name: FoodFan
One-Liner Pitch: FoodFan's "Select" membership program gives members up to 30% off their restaurant bill at great restaurants any time, without any restrictions.
Why It's Taking Off: FoodFan is taking a different approach to the daily deal market.
It's easy to find restaurant deals online, but there always seems to be a catch, whether it's the fine print, blackout dates or required reservations.
FoodFan, a New York-based startup, is trying to make it easier to receive discounts at select restaurants. FoodFan’s membership program, FoodFan Select, allows members to dine at top rated restaurants at any time, and always receive 15 – 30% off the entire bill. There are no blackout dates or times, and no reservations or coupons needed.
After signing up, Select members receive a sleek membership card in the mail. When you dine at one of Select’s partner restaurants that are listed on FoodFan's site and mobile app, all you need to do is present the card with the bill and you’ll receive up to 30% off the total amount.
Select's partner restaurants are mostly higher-end restaurants located in the New York City area. The minimum criteria for many of these restaurants are three and a half stars on Yelp, and a 20 or higher Zagat rating. The startup plans to add more restaurants to its list each month.
"Restaurants want to attract high quality customers, encourage them to spend more and most importantly, get them to come back," Carlo Cisco, founder and CEO of FoodFan, told Mashable in an interview. "That’s exactly what FoodFan does."
The inspiration for FoodFan came about while Cisco was working as a consultant for daily deal site, Groupon. Cisco found flaws in the deal model and realized that businesses actually lose money when they attract customers who are only interested in deep discounts. This is why, he said, less than 20% of those customers ever return. So in 2011, he founded FoodFan and then created the Select membership model.
"On the customer side, it's frustrating for diners who are forced to pre-purchase meals in advance and are subject to extensive stipulations, short time expirations, and embarrassing vouchers," Cisco said. "With Select, diners receive a consistent 15% to 30% off the full bill at some of the best restaurants in their city, anytime they dine."
Select membership costs $8.99 a month. Most Select members are in the age range of 25 to 45, and more than half of them make more than six figures a year.
Apart from the Select program, FoodFan also makes it easy to find and share great restaurants. The startup has more than 900,000 New York restaurant listings, menus, photos, ratings and reviews from users and trusted critics, including New York magazine, The New York Times, Michelin, Eater NY, Time Out Magazine and Bloomberg Dining.
Users can search for restaurants by name, cuisine, location, price or star ratings. They can also make reservations at certain restaurants through
Each FoodFan user, or “foodie,” has a social profile that shows their reviews, favorite restaurants and dishes, and number of friends and fans. Foodies can follow other foodies and add their own photos of meals and restaurants.
The startup has raised a total of $300,000 in funding. Although the company currently only lists restaurants in and around New York City, FoodFan plans to expand to other cities, including San Francisco, Washington D.C. and Philadelphia.
The FoodFan app is available for iPhone devices. The company plans to release a FoodFan Select app for iPhone and Android later this year.