Adding Appetize will help SpotOn, which is focused on providing software and management tools to small and medium-size restaurants and retailers, further expand its reach.
Appetize is already being serviced in 65% of sports and entertainment venues like L.A.'s Dodger Stadium and Honda Center in Anaheim, home to the Anaheim Ducks. Their platform includes point of sale devices, self-service kiosks, handheld devices, online ordering, that offer tap or scan payment options, including Apple Pay, Google Pay which allows fans to order from the comfort of their seat.
Max Roper, CEO of Appetize will continue running the business, but will take on the role of president of SpotOn Enterprise. "We are super excited about being able to service the end to end market from the coffee shop all the way up to the super bowl stadium level," Roper stated.
The combined companies will have over 1,600 employees, 350 from Appetize and 1,300 from SpotOn and is expected to grow with this acquisition.
Appetize will retain their offices in Los Angeles and employees will continue their roles under the SpotOn Enterprise.
All transactions at each venue are still handled by SpotOn Enterprise, which includes point of sale, kiosk, mobile ordering, and inventory.
"For us, the goal is to provide the best product to the clients we service today and to future clients we will have in the future. The unique thing is being able to service top to bottom and the middle market, no one is able to service that 10-100 store chain," Roper stated.
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"I was inspired to create this app because ever since I started posting my Rares, my followers really seemed to be engaged with them," Rockelle told dot.LA in an emailed statement.
Influencer Piper Rockelle
The social media star hopes like many others to cash in on the creator economy. Last month she released a debut video for her song "Yesterday," but she's best known for her videos on the latest fashion trends as well as so-called challenges and pranks such as "last Youtuber to freeze wins."
The videos have garnered criticism for encouraging youth to engage in harmful and inappropriate behavior. In August, pop star Pink accused Rockelle's mother, who helps her set up shots, of exploiting her young daughter.
But as her social media fan base grew, she caught the eye of Koji founders Sean Thielen and Dmitry Shapiro.
The two launched Koji five months ago as a web-based platform to help social media influencers monetize their audiences, signing on 50,000 creators including Loren Gray, Randi Zuckerberg, and of course, Piper Rockelle.
The San Diego-based startup is a web-based app store that offers "mini-apps," a work-around from Apple store or Google Play, both of which have been accused of monopolistic practices. Last month, Apple made changes to its store after settling a lawsuit for $100 million brought by small app developers alleging that their pricing tiers and purchase offerings were monopolistic.
Rockelle's latest venture is akin to the unboxing phenomenon that YouTubers made popular. A "rare" is an image or video that can be unlocked via a password, through quiz questions or with money. The creators can add stickers, text or pixelation over the blurred out images through the app.
It launched this week on Koji's platform, which has garnered $16 million in venture funding, including backing from former Disney CEO Michael Eisner. The startup recently brought on Dreamworks' former head of global interactive Annie Morita as its chief operating officer. Morita most recently led Apple's expansion efforts in China.
"We want to bring that same innovation that app stores brought to the phone, we want to bring that to the creator economy," Shapiro said.
One of Koji's key features is its "Link in Bio" feature, a term borrowed from Instagram, which famously doesn't allow more than one link in user profiles, so companies like Linktree seized on the opportunity to create a work-around, allowing users to include multiple links through their site. Koji's "Link in Bio" similarly lets the platform's web applications connect to creators on TikTok, YouTube and other social media platforms.
Koji hosts over 100 apps, most of which let creators make money via donations or selling personalized video shout outs.
Any time a developer publishes an app on the Koji App Store, they can set the fees for other creators to use their app.
Rares' fee is 15%. When other creators use the app on their link in bios and make money from it, they keep 85% of the earnings. The remaining 15% is split between the developer and Koji.
Koji boasts that some of its creators have already made over $15k from the mini-apps on their link in bios.