Meet Ethan Martin, The 23yr Entrepreneur Who Went From University To CEO At The UK’s Leading Order To Table App

ROUND is the nationwide in-venue ordering app, which I founded in 2018.

With a recent valuation of £33m, in just three years ROUND has established itself as the UK’s top in-venue ordering app, used all over the country. From our use of technology and the team’s hard work, we have been able to drive and evolve ROUND into the success it has become. With ROUND, customers can order and pay for food and drink in one place, ordering at multiple venues through a single platform, getting rid of the need for numerous apps from different venues. This solves key issues for both venues and consumers alike.

For customers, it’s saving them time queuing at bars. In parallel, lost sales, poor service due to queueing and not being able to upsell have been more concerning than ever before for venues due to the pandemic. With £30m+ in-app orders in the past twelve months, over 1,000 venues, and 45,000 5* reviews, the app has been revolutionising both the experience people have in venues and the way venues operate.
 
 

 

How did you come up with the idea for the company?

 
Inspiration for ROUND came during my time as a student when I saw the potential in digitalising the hospitality industry. There was an opportunity to disrupt how we purchase in-venue, making it easier for customers and businesses – increasing convenience and revenue.

With the growing success and potential of ROUND, I then decided to take a year out of university to focus all my time and energy on my passion for ROUND. What once was only at university bars, ROUND can now be found across the country, helping venues nationwide take in orders and increase revenue by up to 17%.
 

 

How has the company evolved during the pandemic?

 
We are currently going through a funding round, via the online platform Crowdcube. The opportunity to be a part of ROUND and invest is officially open on the 29th of October. We are really excited for the launch as it is a great way to give the public a chance to invest in our forward-thinking brand.

This investment will allow ROUND to develop future features, soon to be launched, for venues to take payments and further autonomise their systems. What this means for venues is that it will allow customers to order and pay at the bar, at table side with staff, for table service, click+collect & delivery on the app – all-in-one order management system. Further developing our features allows ROUND to capitalise on its position as the dominant player in hospitality ordering tech.