Wriggle, the last-minute restaurant deal app, is expanding to Birmingham, Manchester, Newcastle and Cardiff, M&C has learnt.
Founder Rob Hall told M&C that the group’s rollout would centre around its Better Lunch project, which connects restaurants with local offices.
The group is currently overfunding on its crowdfunding campaign on Seedrs, having secured 103% of the £350,000 it was seeking. Hall said he had chosen the full 60-day window for the fundraise and still had five weeks left to go.
He said the recent launch in Brighton, which followed Bristol and London, had gone well.
He said: “We are currently at the stage of building our relationship with operators. We need to have a solid base of restaurants before we really push the message to consumers.
“Getting that connection with independent operators is the challenge but also the unique selling point of Wriggle. It takes a while to get that word of mouth going among operators but it eventually gets to a point where we have a selection of independent operators that no one else can match.”
Wriggle currently works by offering customers a selection of offers from operators selling surplus space. Customers purchase directly over the Wriggle app or website - and the group automatically pays the merchant, keeping a 13.6% commission from which its profit margin is generated.
The next stage is to create a business subscription fee of £30 per month, which would eventually lead to a dashboard feature where operators would be able upload offers and to track and optimise performance.
On the growth strategy, hall said: “It will be a steady expansion throughout the first half of the year, becoming more rapid as we get into the final six months. I’d certainly like to have Birmingham done in the next six months.
“We are planning to roll out the Better Lunch project nationwide because it’s a very scaleable offer. That’s something we’ll be launching in the next month or so.”
