Name: Isabel Overton
Company: inu
Position: Founder
Website: https://www.inudining.com
About Isabel Overton and inu
inu is a restaurant discovery platform designed to connect Black diners with inclusive venues. It was founded in 2023 with a mission to become the go-to tool for Black people to use at home and on holiday, serving as a guide on where they can feel safe whilst being social.
Why? Up to 50% of Black diners have experienced racism whilst eating out. And this experience is shared by inu’s founder, Isabel Overton, who came up with the idea after she and her family were racially harassed by the owner of a restaurant that was very highly rated on Google Reviews. What she later discovered was that the restaurant’s one-star ratings were largely coming from Black and Brown people who shared similar stories of harassment.
Isabel conducted her own market research and found that the majority of Black diners she spoke to primarily trust word of mouth and social media to discover new restaurants – because they can hear from people who look like them.
So, inu is using technology to combine the trust of word of mouth with the reach of social media and the discoverability of Google maps to give users easy access to reliable, culturally relevant recommendations. Its website is currently being reworked to incorporate a social bookmarking feature that will give users control over their food footprints and greater access to other users in the inu community.
And it’s supporting restaurants too. The industry is competitive, and 2023 saw a record number of closures. Black Brits alone have an annual disposable income of £1.1 billion. By getting inclusive restaurants in front of this audience, inu is directing this spending power towards businesses whose values align with its users.
Since launching in 2023, inu has served hundreds of users by collaborating with restaurants and chefs to host exclusive events, launching a bespoke concierge service and creating a directory of inu recommended restaurants. In doing this, it has established an engaged and growing community of Black food and travel lovers, who want better access to recommendations they can trust.
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