Technology

Restaurant payment startup Sunday nabs leaders from Uber, DoorDash

The company is ramping up its U.S. business following a $24 million seed round in April.
Sunday payment app
Photograph courtesy of Sunday

Contactless payment startup Sunday is ramping up quickly in the U.S. behind a recent $24 million seed round

The Atlanta-based company has inked partnerships with more than 130 restaurants and filled several leadership roles with former employees of Uber and DoorDash as it looks to become restaurants' go-to contactless payment provider.

Sunday's QR code-based platform is designed to allow guests to check out at their leisure in as little as 10 seconds.

Its new hires are:

  • Marc Weidner, CFO. Weidner was formerly managing director for consumer investment and M&A deals in food and beverage for banking group BNP Paribas.
  • Mandy Quinn, head of sales. Quinn was previously head of foodservice partnerships at Uber, where she worked with restaurants to help them boost delivery sales.
  • David Chase, Northeast sales lead. Chase previously led sales teams in the Northeast and New York City for DoorDash.
  • Maggie Diehl, Northeast general manager. Diehl was formerly engagement manager for consulting firm McKinsey.

Sunday was founded during the pandemic by a pair of European restaurateurs and has grown quickly overseas. It aspires to become a global business-to-consumer company along the lines of PayPal or Venmo, co-founder and U.S. CEO Christine de Wendel has said. Its massive seed round in April was one of the biggest ever for a restaurant technology company.

Sunday's first group of U.S. restaurant partners range from fine-dining places to fast-casual chains, the company said.

“We want Sunday to become the most-loved payment solution for restaurateurs, and our skyrocketing growth is testament to our strikingly simple yet effective model,” de Wendel said in a statement.

Guests can use their smartphone to scan a Sunday QR code at their table and pay whenever they want, with options to split the bill and tip. Payments are processed by Stripe, and Sunday currently integrates with many POS providers including Micros, NCR, Brink and Upserve. Restaurants pay a commission on each transaction processed by Sunday.

Members help make our journalism possible. Become a Restaurant Business member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.

Multimedia

Exclusive Content

Financing

With CosMc's, McDonald's shows its risk-taking side

The Bottom Line: The first unit of McDonald’s opened to long lines in its first two days. The concept proves that the company can get attention. And it’s willing to take some chances.

Financing

Big restaurant chains get aggressive on unit growth

The Bottom Line: Yum Brands, McDonald’s and Domino’s are all making a big push to accelerate growth. Most of it will come outside the U.S. But they have domestic plans, too.

Financing

Chris Kempczinski changes his tune on restaurant automation

The Bottom Line: While noting that humans will continue to drive restaurants, the McDonald’s CEO notes that the calculus on automation gets closer as labor costs soar.

Trending

More from our partners