Taking Back Control from the Giants
Today's featured startup is helping small restaurants reclaim their margins from delivery platforms — and turning a broken business model into a billion-dollar opportunity
Project Overview
Owner.com promises to make it easier for restaurants to grow online.
The startup targets independent, family-run restaurants and cafés that struggle to compete with major delivery platforms like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub — which together control over 65% of the U.S. food delivery market.
Owner.com’s mission is to help small restaurants reclaim their customers by giving them the same digital tools large chains like Domino’s or Starbucks use — but without the massive marketing budgets.
The company rebuilds restaurant websites on its own platform, providing sleek, AI-assisted sites that not only look good but actually drive sales. Each restaurant also gets its own mobile app and a suite of automated marketing tools that boost visibility, attract direct orders, and turn one-time buyers into loyal customers.
Since launching in 2020, Owner.com has onboarded 2,000 restaurants, processed 3 million customers, and facilitated $400 million in total sales. Its revenue tripled between 2022 and 2023, and the company has raised $62.2 million in funding to date — including a recent $33 million round to fuel further growth.
What’s the Gist?
Owner.com tackles a painful problem: food delivery aggregators charge restaurants 25–35% in fees per order, often wiping out profits entirely. While big chains can afford this, independent restaurants can’t — they literally pay out of pocket.
Owner.com flips the model. Instead of charging commissions, it offers a flat subscription fee, giving restaurants full control over pricing and margins. Deliveries are handled by third-party services, but at fixed rates ($4 for the restaurant, $3 for the customer) thanks to Owner.com’s bulk partnerships and dynamic routing integrations that find the cheapest delivery options in real time.
The beauty of the model is scale. The U.S. online food delivery market hit $86.9 billion in 2023 and is projected to reach $111.7 billion by 2028. Owner.com doesn’t need to “create a new market” — it just needs to pull a small slice of orders away from aggregators. Even a tiny shift equals massive dollars.
What’s more, direct ordering from restaurants is already widespread — 130 million Americans have done it, compared to 102 million who’ve used aggregators. The problem? Restaurants aren’t great at retention or upselling. Owner.com fixes that with built-in loyalty programs, personalized offers, and automated remarketing tools — giving small restaurants the marketing muscle of the big players, without the complexity.
Key Takeaways
Owner.com’s success shows that “taking back control” can be a scalable business model.
If you’re looking for a similar opportunity, think like Owner.com:
Find a massive, aggregator-dominated market.
Equip small players with the same powerful tools big ones use.
Build a business model that attracts the small and excludes the big — like fixed pricing that giants can’t match.
Slice, a startup helping independent pizzerias, follows a similar approach — and has raised $125 million.
So the billion-dollar question is:
Which market can you “take back”? What tools will empower the small? And what irresistible hook will bring them on board — one that the giants can’t afford to copy?
Company Info
Website: owner.com
Latest Round: $33M, 31.01.2024
Total Funding: $62.2M across 6 rounds