We have some exciting news for the pizza community. We’ve raised $43M in Series C funding!
This round of funding was led by KKR, who were joined by existing early investors GGV, Primary Ventures, Teamworthy, and RiverPark Ventures. I want to thank all of them — as well as our partner owners, customers, and Slicers — for seeing the value of our business and the importance of our mission. This new capital enables us to enhance and scale the Slice platform, so we can keep small businesses thriving.
As we celebrate this important milestone, I want to share my perspective on Slice and the future of our industry:
Pizza is at the heart of our communities.
From birthday parties to gameday potlucks, pizzerias have been an anchor in our lives for generations. It was no surprise that they were deemed essential when the COVID-19 pandemic caused the shutdown of many businesses. How did they respond? By rolling up their sleeves, putting on masks and gloves, and getting to work. The pies, salads, pasta — even groceries — kept on coming to our homes. You can’t stop pizza!
The grit of these small businesses was never more evident than in their support of Pizza vs. Pandemic. Since March 21st, local pizzerias have delivered over 20K pies, feeding an estimated 140K frontline care workers at more than 900 health centers nationwide. Neighbors help neighbors — some do so with stacks of pizzas.
The pandemic is accelerating change.
COVID-19 has cracked open the marketplace and will leave behind an entirely new economic landscape filled with haves and have-nots. Millions of Americans are facing unemployment and will look to the opportunity to begin their entrepreneurial journey. By starting their own business, they can control their destiny, follow their passion and invest in themselves and their families. This is the American dream.
For thousands, they’ll pursue their dream to get into the pizza business. We welcome that idea and understand what that means. Starting a new business can be terrifying, especially in these strange times. They simply don’t have the resources, the time, or the know-how to solve the problems that we can easily solve. We can set them up for success, bringing them into our community of creators and makers.
That’s why we must accelerate our plan to digitally and operationally transform small businesses. They’re highly underserved and very vulnerable. Our primary goal is to help them adapt and become digital-first. This has never been more important than now.
An example of this in action: Billy’s Pizza & Pasta. As a neighborhood pizzeria with a steady base of walk-in customer traffic, it’s the kind of shop that may have struggled during this pandemic’s surge in pickup and delivery. Instead, with access to the technology and services that Slice provides, they had their strongest month ever.
Being able to drive business online is essential to the success of local restaurants like Billy’s, and this new funding will allow us to continue improving Slice’s platform to empower more independent pizza shops nationwide.
Our approach works.
One of the things that really resonated with our investors was our mission — to keep local thriving. Their investment goals aligned perfectly with our mission and we’re proud to have them as our partners in helping to support local businesses.
We have the right model, the right pricing, and the right strategy to help move these businesses online and to accelerate their growth. We charge small business owners a fraction of the high fees charged by food delivery apps. We solve their operational challenges by offering a complete suite of solutions. We provide a great user experience AND we offer value to consumers. We deliver this, all while supporting LOCAL.
Together, we’ll enable our small business partners to grow faster and earn larger profits while we continue to expand the nation’s largest network of pizza restaurants. All while driving towards our revenue goals and profitability.
We’re making a bigger Slice .🍕🚀
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