LevelUp
LevelUp is an online and mobile food ordering company founded in 2008 in Boston, connecting diners with local takeout restaurants through digital ordering, payment, and loyalty platforms. The company raised approximately $115 million in venture funding before being acquired by Grubhub.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2008
- HeadquartersBoston, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What LevelUp does
LevelUp is an online and mobile food ordering company founded in 2008 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. The company operates a two-sided platform connecting diners with local takeout restaurants, providing digital menu browsing, ordering, payment processing, and loyalty capabilities across both consumer-facing applications and restaurant-facing merchant tools. Founded by Seth Priebatsch (who served as founder and CEO) with Theresa Dold as VP of Agency Strategy, LevelUp built its position in the U.S. online food ordering and restaurant technology market over a decade of operation.
The company's product architecture centered on mobile-first ordering applications with integrated payment and loyalty features for diners, paired with merchant tools for menu management, order routing, and customer engagement for restaurant partners. LevelUp scaled to between 101 and 250 employees and raised approximately $115.3 million across ten disclosed funding rounds from 2008 through 2017, with investors including Google Ventures, Highland Capital Partners, JP Morgan Chase, Balderton Capital, Deutsche Telekom Strategic Investments, CentroCredit Bank, Continental Advisors, Dreamit Ventures, Transmedia Capital, and U.S. Boston Capital. The funding progression — from a $50,000 seed round in 2008 to a $37 million round led by JP Morgan Chase in May 2017 — reflects steady scaling of capital deployment aligned with merchant and diner acquisition.
LevelUp's business model combined transaction-based revenue from restaurant partners with potential consumer-side monetization through loyalty and payments features. The company was acquired by Grubhub (referenced via Grubhub.com in source materials), marking an exit that integrated LevelUp's merchant relationships and diner base into a larger national food ordering platform. No pricing details are publicly disclosed in the available source materials.
LevelUp firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- LevelUp
- Legal name
- LevelUp
- Website
- https://thelevelup.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2008
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- LevelUp is an online and mobile food ordering company founded in 2008 in Boston, connecting diners with local takeout restaurants through digital ordering, payment, and loyalty platforms. The company raised approximately $115 million in venture funding before being acquired by Grubhub.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
LevelUp industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Restaurant Payments and Ordering Software
- NAICS
- Limited-Service Restaurants (722513)
- SIC
- Retail-Eating Places (5812)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Mobile Ordering, POS & Campus Dining Technology (EDALADAN)
Keywords
Where LevelUp is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Boston
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
LevelUp business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure
LevelUp product offering
Product offeringCore offering
LevelUp is an online and mobile food ordering company that connects diners with local takeout restaurants. Its platform enables consumers to discover, order from, and pay local restaurants via a mobile app, while providing restaurants with mobile payment processing, digital ordering, and customer loyalty tooling as a unified merchant solution.
Product overview
LevelUp operates as a climate technology platform providing decarbonization solutions. Following its acquisition of UK-based Zevero in April 2024, the company now offers a unified platform that combines LevelUp's agricultural expertise with Zevero's AI-driven carbon accounting platform to deliver comprehensive decarbonization capabilities.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- LevelUp Mobile App Consumer-facing mobile application that lets diners find nearby takeout restaurants, browse menus, place online orders, and complete payment via mobile device. Designed for individual diners using iOS and Android smartphones.
- LevelUp Merchant Platform Restaurant-side platform that processes mobile payments, powers digital ordering, and runs customer loyalty programs for participating restaurants and chains. Designed for restaurant owners and operators seeking an integrated alternative to separate POS, ordering, and rewards vendors.
Companies that use LevelUp
Customer profileSegments1 record
Ideal customer profiles1 record
LevelUp technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability1 record
Feature1 record
LevelUp partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- ZeverocoreLevelUp acquired UK-based Zevero in April 2024 to enhance its decarbonization capabilities. The acquisition combines Zevero's AI-driven carbon accounting platform with LevelUp's existing agricultural expertise, creating a more comprehensive decarbonization solution for enterprise customers.
Scale indicators2 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights3 records
LevelUp competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Toast: Restaurant POS and online ordering platform serving the full stack of restaurant operations. Comparable because Toast combines POS with online ordering and payments in a unified platform, mirroring LevelUp's integrated ordering + payment + loyalty approach for limited-service restaurants.
- TouchBistro: Restaurant POS system with integrated online ordering and payment capabilities for full-service and quick-service restaurants. Comparable as a restaurant-focused platform combining POS, ordering, and payments similar to LevelUp's integrated offering.
- Olo: Enterprise-grade online food ordering SaaS platform serving restaurant chains. Directly comparable as a B2B ordering platform targeting the same limited-service and chain restaurant customer base that LevelUp served, with similar API-driven integration model.
- ChowNow: Online food ordering platform focused on independent restaurants, offering commission-free direct ordering. Comparable as a mobile-first ordering platform serving the same independent restaurant segment that LevelUp targeted, with similar merchant SaaS economics.
Broad incumbents
- PayPal Here: Mobile payment acceptance product from PayPal targeting small merchants including restaurants. Comparable as a competing mobile payment solution that restaurants could use instead of integrating with a dedicated platform like LevelUp.
- OpenTable: Restaurant reservation and ordering platform now part of Booking Holdings. Comparable as an established restaurant technology platform that, like LevelUp, monetizes restaurant-side integrations and diner relationships at scale across the US market.
- Square (Block): Mobile payment and POS provider serving small and mid-sized merchants including restaurants. Comparable as the dominant mobile payment platform competing with LevelUp's QR-code payment offering, with restaurant vertical specialization via Square for Restaurants.
- Clover (Fiserv): POS and merchant services platform owned by Fiserv, serving restaurants and other small businesses with integrated payments and online ordering. Comparable as a broader incumbent offering the integrated POS + payment + ordering stack that LevelUp pioneered for restaurants.
- Grubhub: Major US online and mobile food ordering platform that acquired LevelUp in 2017. Directly comparable as the acquirer and integrator of LevelUp's technology and merchant relationships, operating in the same restaurant ordering and delivery space.
Emerging players
- Bbot: Online ordering and payments platform focused on restaurants, offering mobile ordering, in-restaurant tablets, and POS integrations. Comparable as a focused restaurant ordering and payment SaaS with overlapping functionality to LevelUp's integrated platform.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
LevelUp social profiles
Digital presenceLevelUp financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
LevelUp leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
LevelUp subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
LevelUp funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds10 records
Investors10 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
LevelUp M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about LevelUp
What does LevelUp do?
LevelUp is an online and mobile food ordering company that connects diners with local takeout restaurants. Its platform enables consumers to discover, order from, and pay local restaurants via a mobile app, while providing restaurants with mobile payment processing, digital ordering, and customer loyalty tooling as a unified merchant solution.
When was LevelUp founded?
LevelUp was founded in 2008. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is LevelUp based?
LevelUp is headquartered in Boston, United States, in the North America region.
Who are LevelUp's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Toast, TouchBistro, Olo and ChowNow. Broad incumbents are PayPal Here, OpenTable, Square (Block), Clover (Fiserv) and Grubhub. Bbot is listed as an emerging player.
Does LevelUp have an API?
No public API is recorded for LevelUp.
What industry is LevelUp in?
LevelUp's product category is Restaurant Payments and Ordering Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDALADAN, Mobile Ordering, POS & Campus Dining Technology. Its NAICS code is 722513 and its SIC code is 5812.