National Restaurant Association (NRA) announced a new feature area of Startup Alley for the 2015 National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show, taking place at Chicago’s McCormick Place on May 16-19.
Emerging startups in the restaurant technology space will now have the opportunity to showcase their companies to the more than 65,000 foodservice professionals at the largest annual foodservice trade show in the world.
Showcasing innovative and promising advancements, Startup Alley will feature companies with new technologies to engage foodservice customers on social media, streamline food delivery, execute innovative recruitment, and more.
“We want to provide our members with access to the best possible technology solutions, which requires exposure to smaller companies that are on the cusp of innovation. We embrace the fact that there are a large number of startups popping up in the restaurant technology space, and we want to give them the opportunity to work with us and our restaurant members. Startup Alley was created in that spirit,” says Phil Kafarakis, Chief Innovation & Member Advancement Officer for the National Restaurant Association.
The featured companies aim to streamline restaurant operations and increase efficiencies through services such as:
- Mobile geo-location-enabled job seeking
- Live-streaming online music services
- App-based “smart” delivery service
- Restaurant supply ordering and inventory management
- Mobile guest communications and feedback
- Interactive digital displays
