Invest2Scale Podcast - Episode 1
From QR Codes to Global Exit: The Quick Serve Journey and Lessons for Scottish Startups
How a frustrated parent's restaurant experience led to building a global hospitality tech company worth acquiring
When Daniel Rodgers found himself in a London pub in 2011, wrestling with two young children while sugar packets scattered across the table, he couldn't have imagined this moment of parental frustration would spark a business journey spanning 13 years and 44 countries. Yet this everyday scenario became the genesis of Quick Serve, a hospitality technology company that recently exited to the Access Group in a deal that highlights both the potential and challenges of Scotland's startup ecosystem.
The Problem That Started It All
The challenge was simple but universal: how do you order food and drinks when you can't leave your table? Rodgers describes the dilemma perfectly - "Do you leave your kids and go up? Or do you leave valuables at the table?" This pain point, experienced by countless parents and diners, became the foundation for Quick Serve's QR code ordering solution.
Drawing on his previous experience using QR codes to track shipping data, Rodgers realized the same technology could solve the hospitality industry's biggest challenge: knowing where customers are actually sitting. "If we can put enough information in a QR code about a venue and a location, maybe that can drive a digital experience," he explained.
Building Through Scepticism and Pandemic Acceleration
The early years weren't easy. Rodgers spent six to seven years evangelising QR code ordering to restaurant operators who looked at him "like I had two heads." The pushback was significant; operators simply couldn't envision customers wanting to order via mobile phones from their tables.
Then COVID-19 changed everything. Suddenly, digital ordering wasn't just convenient - it was essential for survival. "Digital became the only way for restaurants to survive," Rodgers notes. The pandemic accelerated adoption dramatically, with Quick Serve working with major chains like TGI Fridays to enable contactless ordering and delivery.
Today, Quick Serve powers digital ordering in approximately 8,500 restaurants across 44 countries, having expanded from simple QR code ordering to include self-service kiosks and comprehensive digital hospitality solutions.
The Scottish Investment Journey
Quick Serve's funding story reflects the typical Scottish startup pathway: friends and family, angel syndicates, equity gap funding, and eventually institutional investors like Maven Capital Partners in 2016. The company benefited significantly from Scottish government support, including match funding through Scottish Enterprise and Scottish Investment Bank backing.
However, Rodgers highlights a stark contrast between Scottish and US investment approaches. While Quick Serve was raising £250,000 to £500,000 in early rounds, comparable US companies were securing £5-10 million for similar stages. "There's a different perspective of how US investors look at startups," he explains. "They have more of a fail fast mentality - they're much more open to buying into a vision."
The Investment Mindset Gap
This difference isn't just about available capital - it's about risk appetite and investment philosophy. Scottish and UK investors tend to be more cautious, preferring to see companies prove market fit, demonstrate sales capability, and pass through multiple validation gates before making larger investments.
US investors, conversely, are more willing to back vision early, providing substantial funding upfront with the understanding that some investments will fail quickly while others will scale rapidly. Both approaches have merit: UK companies often "grow up" more methodically, while US companies that succeed tend to hit big early.
Lessons for Founders
Rodgers offers several key insights for entrepreneurs considering investment:
Be brutally honest about product-market fit. Quick Serve was early to market - perhaps too early initially. "We were creating something, almost creating a market," Rodgers admits. While this ultimately paid off, it required persistence through years of market education.
Understand what investment really means. "If you go in thinking it's easy money and I get the money and I can just go away and do it, there's a whole level of oversight that comes with each step up in the investment ladder," he warns. Each funding round brings increased scrutiny and sophistication requirements.
Ask for what you actually need. If you need £5 million, ask for £5 million. "You can change" your business plan based on what you actually raise, but starting with realistic funding requirements leads to more honest conversations about milestones and growth expectations.
The Exit and What's Next
Quick Serve's acquisition by the Access Group - their 119th or 120th acquisition - provides an interesting case study in strategic exits. Access Group operates globally with 7,000 employees, 50% of whom came through acquisitions, making them "an acquisition machine" with deep experience in integrating new companies.
For Rodgers, the exit isn't an ending but an evolution. "We've been fighting like a little battalion out of Scotland trying to take on the world in 44 countries," he reflects. "Now it feels like we've got a massive army behind us."
The Quick Serve story demonstrates both the potential and the patience required in Scotland's startup ecosystem. While the investment journey may be more gradual than those in Silicon Valley, it can still lead to significant outcomes for founders who combine vision with persistence, market timing, and the ability to educate both customers and investors about transformative possibilities.
For more insights from successful Scottish entrepreneurs and investors, listen to the full Invest2Scale podcast series.
Episode Transcript
Ewan Anderson (00:07):
Hi, and welcome to the Investor Scale podcast. My name's Ewan Anderson, and I am joined today by Daniel Rogers, who is the founder of Quicks Serve. Daniel, welcome along. Hi, nice to see you. So Daniel, do you want to just tell us a little bit about Quicks Serve and your role at Quick Serve?
Daniel Rodgers (00:24):
Yeah, I founded Quicks Serve in 2011, really out of frustration with hospitality. I was in London with two very young children, 2011, and got increasingly frustrated about how difficult it was to get served in bars and restaurants, particularly with two young children.
(00:45):
And I remember one particular experience, there wasn't a weather spoons, but a weather spoons type place and it was raining outside. So we wanted to get the kids out of the rain and into a place, and you kind of get your kids down at the table and you take their coats off and then you've inadvertently come into one of these places where you have to go up to the bar to order and you're like, what do you do? Do you leave your kids and go up? Or do you leave valuables at the table? And by this time, my kids had opened up the sugar on the table and were stepping it down their neck, and I thought, I'll just leave the kids there. But that got me thinking about how tech can solve that problem. And I'd previously worked with using QR codes to track big amounts of data on shipping parcels in a previous business. And I thought, well, if we can put enough information in a QR code about a venue and a location and things like that, maybe that can drive a digital experience. Because one of the biggest challenges in those places is where is the person actually sitting?
(01:57):
And that's where Quick Serve started. It was using QR codes with a mobile device to place an order in an FFMB setting. And then during the last 12, 13 years, we've grown the business now and we've added a number of other products to our portfolio. So we've added self-service checkouts, like an kiosk that you would see in a McDonald's or a Burger King. And today we power digital ordering in about eight and a half thousand restaurants in 44 countries around the world. So
Ewan Anderson (02:34):
Wow.
Daniel Rodgers (02:36):
Been a lot of that growth was in the last 5, 6, 5, 6 years. I
Ewan Anderson (02:41):
Was going to say. So presumably Covid had some kind of benefit to that in the nicest possible way?
Daniel Rodgers (02:48):
In the nicest possible way. I think we found ourselves in a really unique position. First of all, I think it was incredibly destabilizing because for everybody, and even in our business, we didn't actually know what was going to happen. We knew that hospitality was going to be severely impacted. What we didn't realize was just how much of a lifeline technology was going to be to operators during that time. And having spent six years, seven years trying to install the virtues of QR code ordering and bars and restaurants and getting lots of pushbacks and operators looking at me like I had two heads. Oh, you want to put one of these square rack things on a table? I'm not doing that. I'm not doing that. Not
Ewan Anderson (03:35):
For us
Daniel Rodgers (03:37):
To a situation where actually they were left with no choice. Digital became the only way for restaurants to survive. I recall we worked with TGI Fridays in the early days of the pandemic, and those restaurants, their only lifeline was getting food from their restaurants to someone's home.
Ewan Anderson (04:02):
Yeah, I remember
Daniel Rodgers (04:04):
That. So we had to do a lot of things about how to get that social distancing and take away the contact and all that kind of stuff. So technology, the pandemic was actually a real driving force for getting operators to start thinking about tech. Just
Ewan Anderson (04:19):
Think differently.
Daniel Rodgers (04:20):
Yeah, just think differently. And sometimes to drive a technological change, you need a bit of a push. And Covid was really that push, arguably it pushed it too far. Really. Yeah, because what we're seeing now is a little bit of a pull back on tech. So some people are harking back to, I want to stand at a bar in order, good old pace. But that I think is now changing again. Right? You're starting to see operators think differently about technology because they've had the experience of Covid and actually they're start to remember some of the good things about that.
Ewan Anderson (04:59):
It's what evolved. It's just the evolution of these things. Absolutely. It's learning and growing. So Quick Service had some good news in the last couple of weeks, really. Do you want to tell us a little bit about that?
Daniel Rodgers (05:10):
Yeah, so we just exited to the Access Group. The Access Group is one of the UK's largest software businesses, and they operate globally. They have a number of divisions. So they work in hr, payroll software, lots of different kinds of software, financial, but one of their divisions is hospitality. And they've been investing in hospitality for a number of years. We've been an access partner for a number of years. And last year we took a decision to see if we could find a partner that Quickif could go forward
(05:53):
With,
(05:55):
Because we could see that the market consolidating and access were one of the logical people for us to approach and successfully went through that deal process. Challenging as it was. Yes,
Ewan Anderson (06:12):
Yes. I can imagine
Daniel Rodgers (06:14):
It. It was a very good process. They are an acquisition machine. I believe they're at acquisition number 119 or 120. Wow.
Ewan Anderson (06:27):
Right, right.
Daniel Rodgers (06:30):
So they're well versed at doing this. About 50% of their employees, of which there are 7,000 have actually come from acquisitions, really. So it's a real driver for how they've grown that business.
Ewan Anderson (06:46):
So obviously this is investor scale. So do you want to tell us just a little bit about your investment journey? So obviously you would've taken in funding as you're going through just a little bit about that journey and the challenges you faced in getting that investment.
Daniel Rodgers (06:58):
Yeah, I think the market is much more challenging now for sure. I'm not saying ours was easy, but we probably went through a very traditional Scottish startup journey. So friends of family to kick off then into the Angel syndicate, and we stepped up through there. So it basically started the equity gap, and then Par joined us a couple of years later. Ultimately, Maven Capital came in in 2016, and then that's been our steady state since then. So we've, those guys have supported us all the way through our journey
Ewan Anderson (07:50):
As well.
Daniel Rodgers (07:50):
Absolutely. So we've stayed in the Scottish investment ecosystem,
Ewan Anderson (07:56):
Have you? Right. Okay.
Daniel Rodgers (07:59):
We had bits and pieces of external, so individuals from, I've got an individual who's Canadian who's invested in us and a few other bits and pieces, but largely has been those three core investors and heavily supported by the Scotch government, the stuff Scotch government does as well. So match funding, SIB, all of that stuff have really been a huge, huge support. And having that backup to support private investors I think really, really helped us.
Ewan Anderson (08:35):
That's definitely helped you on your journey
Daniel Rodgers (08:37):
A hundred percent. Even back at the early days where the power equity and equity gap are match fund partners. So we were able to raise a certain amount from equity Gap that was then matched by Scottish Enterprise. So it kind of almost was multiplying what the private investors could do, which meant we could do more in the early days, not as much as we would've liked for sure. I mean, if we were an American company, it would've been probably a big injection of cash. And then,
Ewan Anderson (09:13):
So talk to me a wee bit about that now. What is the difference, why is there a difference now? Is it the levels of investment here or is it actually about a mindset, or what do you think?
Daniel Rodgers (09:25):
I think it's a bit of both. And we spend a lot of time in the US and I think there's a different perspective of how US investors look at startups, and I think they have more of a fail fast mentality. So they're much more open to buying into a vision, buying into an idea, going big at the start, and trying to see if they can get it to a certain scale. In our early journey, we were raising 250, 500,000. There were businesses doing similar things to us in the US all the way back in 2013. They were raising five, 10 million to our 10th of that.
Ewan Anderson (10:15):
So were you asking for more or was there just not the money here to give you that? Because Right. I mean, it's the same product I suppose. They have a bigger market and there's a bigger opportunity,
Daniel Rodgers (10:25):
But there's definitely more cash out there. I think there's more liquidity in terms of there's more funding to go around. But I think the Scottish UK market, they're a much more cautious investor. And I think they would much rather see a company prove its market, prove its product market fit early on, prove it can sell. So I think there's more gates that you would go through.
Ewan Anderson (10:57):
Okay, that's interesting.
Daniel Rodgers (10:57):
Through a UK Scottish investment journey. Whereas I think the US are more accepting of how'd you get through those initial gates really quickly, and if you don't make it, then they move on to the next thing much quicker.
Ewan Anderson (11:16):
And do they just accept it? There's going to be investment here. Some of it's going to fail, but we're going to put the money in and we will get through those gates quicker. So it's throwing money at the problem as opposed to you go off, find your product market fit, and then come back to us and we'll give you some money.
Daniel Rodgers (11:32):
So I think that's the biggest difference. Less there's, there's a much bigger appetite to take an earlier risk and go big on an earlier risk rather than in the uk. And both have benefits. I think from a UK investment perspective, you get a company that grows up a little bit more. And from a US perspective, if it's going to be a hit, it's going to be a hit early. It's going to be a hit.
Ewan Anderson (12:02):
Okay. Okay.
Daniel Rodgers (12:03):
So I think that's the biggest differences.
Ewan Anderson (12:06):
So Tanya, tell us a little bit about what is it that some people just don't think about when they take investment? What are the things you think, oh, I never realized that was the case or that was an issue.
Daniel Rodgers (12:16):
I mean, there's 1,000,001 things that you should think about before you take investment, whether you're at the right stage. Do you actually being brutally honest about do you actually have product market fit? Do you they're, I'm being completely honest, we were really early. I think that point about looking at me like I had two heads when I said people want to order with their mobile phone is actually really valid. And we were creating something,
Ewan Anderson (12:47):
Almost creating a market,
Daniel Rodgers (12:48):
Almost creating a market. And the vision paid off. And it's ubiquitous now, but there's a timing element to when you would want to take investment be so long as you go in eyes wide open. I think most of the time you're going to be okay if you go in thinking it's easy money and I get the money and I can just go away and do it. There's a whole level of oversight that comes with each step up in the investment ladder. You need to be prepared for that. You need a level of sophistication that the business needs to grow up during those things. And I think that is probably the one thing that you need to think about most.
Ewan Anderson (13:40):
What do you think that the Scottish ecosystem could do to help get that level of investment you're talking about? So obviously you're suggesting we maybe need 5 million, but we can only get one. What is it we need? Do we need better connections with investors from elsewhere? Or what could the ecosystem do to improve that?
Daniel Rodgers (13:59):
I mean, I think there, there's so many success stories in Scotland and in the UK that are real vision based innovative businesses. And quite often I think it's hard to see for investors, hard to see longer term how things can change. And so I think it's up to founders to communicate that more clearly
(14:29):
And show that a business has potential and point to things that they can see in their market and their data. And I think that will help. And then if you need 5 million, then shoot for five. I absolutely believe if you need five, shoot for five because you're going to end up somewhere. And the thing about a business plan or a forecast is you can change it. You're trying to fund a 5 million pound journey. Be open and say, actually, I only managed to raise two and a half. Well, what does two and a half get us? And then you can have a conversation about what milestones do I need to hit? What does the business need to look like, and how hard do I have to go for growth and all that? That kind of thing. And some of it might work and some of it might not. Could easily backfire on you, backfired on us a little bit it, but I think you've got to get at a stage where you've got to go for it and do what you can with what you get.
Ewan Anderson (15:38):
With what you can get. Yeah. Okay. So what's next for Quick seven? What's next for Daniel?
Daniel Rodgers (15:43):
Oh, what's next for me? So my job's not finished. I'm still hugely passionate about tech and hospitality and we've got a lot to do in quick serve still, which I'm super excited about. I was talking at a welcome event this week
(16:02):
Where we're the Access group came up and I was like, we've been fighting like a little battalion out of Scotland trying to take on the world in 44 countries. And we've been fighting all these little battles all over the place and dividing our resources and we've made amazing progress. We've won lots, but now it feels like we've got a massive army behind us. And that is super exciting. I can start to see some opportunities around acquisitions that Access could then make, that would be acquisitions that I would've loved to have made if I was still on my own. So I'm going to ride the coattails of that and then go on that exciting journey and see where it goes from there.
Ewan Anderson (16:48):
Sounds really good. Thank you very much for your time today. Appreciate that. That's great. Really appreciate it.
