Kounta
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2012
- HeadquartersSydney, Australia
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
Kounta firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Kounta
- Legal name
- Kounta
- Website
- https://kounta.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2012
- Operating status
- Acquired
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Kounta industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Restaurant and Retail Point of Sale (POS) Software
- NAICS
- Software Publishers (5132)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Point-of-Sale (POS) & On-Property Commerce (THALACAI)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- POS Payment Software & Middleware (Terminal OS, Apps, Device Management) (FSAMADAC), POS Terminals & All-in-One Retail Computers (HDACAKAA)
Keywords
Where Kounta is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Sydney
- HQ country
- Australia
- HQ region
- Oceania
Offices1 record
Markets served
Kounta business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- SaaS Subscription (POS Software): Monthly subscription plans for POS software with flexible plans suited to different business sizes and needs. Core revenue driver with no additional integration costs
- Hardware Sales: Sale of POS hardware including iPad stands, cash drawers, printers, and scanner equipment. Hardware is sold through the Lightspeed hardware store
- Insights Upgrade: Advanced analytics and reporting features available at additional cost for customers wanting custom reports, trend analysis, and scheduled reports
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Monthly | Flexible monthly subscription plans for hospitality venues |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels4 records
Kounta product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Kounta (now operating as Lightspeed POS) provides a cloud-based, iPad-enabled point of sale (POS) platform for hospitality and retail businesses across Australia and New Zealand. The platform supports multi-channel order management (counter, floor staff, QR menu, delivery), integrated payments, inventory management, real-time analytics, and native integrations with accounting, delivery, and marketing tools.
Product overview
Kounta is now Lightspeed POS - a unified platform-plus-modules architecture for hospitality and retail point of sale. The core product is the Lightspeed POS system, which offers flexible monthly plans suitable for venues from small espresso bars to multi-venue restaurants. The platform includes integrated modules for payments (accepting Apple Pay, Google Pay, and all payment types with bill splitting), inventory management (with recipe costing and COGs tracking), real-time analytics via Insights, multi-channel ordering (counter, floor staff, QR menu, delivery platforms), and accounting integration. Add-on modules include AI Showroom and AI Blog for retail AI capabilities, Kiosk and Tableside for restaurant service channels, Loyalty programs, Advanced Marketing, Workflows automation, Capital financing, Service Orders, B2B Catalog, Scanner, Hardware, eCommerce, and a Developer API. The platform also offers specialized solutions for both retail (apparel, electronics, jewellery, etc.) and hospitality (fine dining, cafe, pub, quick service, etc.) business types.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Lightspeed POS (formerly Kounta POS) Cloud-based point of sale system for hospitality venues, supporting counter orders, floor staff ordering, QR menu ordering, and delivery integration. Suited for venues from small espresso bars to multi-venue restaurants with flexible monthly plans.
- Payments Payment processing module accepting all payment types including Apple Pay and Google Pay, with bill splitting by amounts or items and direct POS-to-EFTPOS integration.
- Inventory Management Back-of-house inventory management for supplies, costs, and dish quality, including stock on hand tracking, automated order-to-par updates, recipe costing tool for COGs tracking, and wastage monitoring.
- Insights Live analytics and reporting application with real-time sales visibility, custom reports on products and staff performance, trend benchmarking, instant alerts, and scheduled automated visual reports.
- Ordering Multi-channel ordering module supporting counter orders, floor staff orders sent to print, QR menu ordering from smartphones, and delivery platform synchronization.
- Accounting Accounting integration module connecting with Xero, MYOB, and QuickBooks for seamless reconciliation of POS transactions.
- Advanced Marketing Marketing automation and customer loyalty features including integrations with Liven, Marsello, and Loke for marketing campaigns and loyalty programs.
- AI Showroom AI-powered retail showroom feature for creating enhanced visual customer experiences.
- AI Blog AI-powered blog content generation feature for automated marketing content creation.
- Hardware POS hardware including iPad stands, cash drawers, receipt printers, and other peripherals tailored for hospitality environments.
- Bump Screen (Kitchen Display System) Kitchen Display System (KDS) for displaying orders to kitchen staff, reducing communication errors and improving service speed.
- Customer Facing Display Display screens visible to customers at checkout for order confirmation and payment processing transparency.
- Kiosk Self-service ordering kiosk for restaurants enabling customers to place orders directly.
- Loyalty Customer loyalty program module for restaurants.
- Lightspeed Tableside Tableside ordering solution allowing floor staff to take orders directly at the table using mobile devices.
- Capital Business capital and financing solutions for hospitality businesses, providing access to funding for growth.
- eCommerce Online e-commerce capabilities for omnichannel retail operations, integrated with the POS system.
- API Developer API enabling third-party integrations and custom development with the Lightspeed POS platform.
Quantifiable outcome
- Trusted by over 10,000 venues across Australia and New Zealand
Companies that use Kounta
Customer profileNamed customers3 records
Segments2 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Kounta technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration13 records
AI capability6 records
Feature5 records
Kounta partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
14 partnerships are on record, tiered core, supporting and flagship.
- XerocoreAccounting software integration allowing seamless financial data sync between Lightspeed POS and Xero for painless reconciliation.
- MYOBcoreAccounting software integration for MYOB users to sync POS data directly into their accounting system.
- QuickBookscoreQuickBooks accounting integration enabling automatic data flow from POS to accounting software.
- DeliveroocoreDelivery platform integration syncing orders directly into Lightspeed POS workflow.
- Uber EatscoreIntegration with Uber Eats for seamless order management and delivery workflow.
- DoorDashcoreDoorDash integration for delivery order management through Lightspeed POS.
- me&ucoreQR menu and ordering platform integration for contactless dining experience.
- Mr YumcoreQR ordering and payment platform integration for hospitality venues.
- DeputysupportingEmployee scheduling and management software integration.
- TandasupportingWorkforce management and scheduling integration for hospitality.
- LivensupportingMarketing and loyalty platform integration.
- MarsellosupportingCustomer marketing and loyalty program integration.
- LokesupportingMarketing platform for hospitality venues.
- LightspeedflagshipKounta has been acquired by Lightspeed, becoming the Lightspeed family. Now operating under the Lightspeed brand with expanded resources and faster feature development. Existing Kounta customers transitioned to Lightspeed platform.
Scale indicators2 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Kounta competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- TouchBistro: TouchBistro provides iPad-based POS for restaurants, cafes, and bars with table management and payment features. It targets the same SMB hospitality customer base as Kounta with comparable modular pricing and functionality.
- Toast: Toast is a restaurant-specialized cloud POS platform serving full-service and quick-service venues with payments, online ordering, and analytics. It is a direct functional peer to Kounta's hospitality offering, increasingly expanding into ANZ.
- Square (Block): Square offers a cloud-based POS system serving SMB restaurants, cafes, and retail with integrated payments and software. It directly competes with Kounta/Lightspeed POS in the ANZ hospitality and retail SMB segment with a similar SaaS + payments model.
- Clover (Fiserv): Clover is a cloud-based POS and payments platform widely used by SMB restaurants and retailers. It competes directly with Kounta on hardware + software + payments bundles for hospitality and small retail operators.
- Vend (now Lightspeed Retail X): Vend is a cloud-based retail POS that was also acquired by Lightspeed and now operates within the same product family. It is a direct functional peer for Kounta's retail vertical.
Broad incumbents
- Shopify POS: Shopify POS extends the Shopify commerce platform into physical retail with integrated hardware, payments, and inventory. It is a broader incumbent that overlaps with Kounta's retail POS functionality, especially for omnichannel merchants.
- Lightspeed Retail: Lightspeed's broader commerce platform serves retail and hospitality globally, now including the former Kounta operations in ANZ. It is the parent entity's full product suite, providing direct comparison on multi-vertical POS capability.
- Lightspeed Restaurant (global): Lightspeed's global restaurant POS offering competes in the same category as Kounta's hospitality suite but serves a broader international footprint. It represents the parent's competing product line in markets outside ANZ.
Emerging players
- me&u: me&u is an ANZ-based QR ordering and payment platform for hospitality venues that integrates with Kounta/Lightspeed POS. It represents a niche emerging player addressing a subset of Kounta's ordering workflows.
- Mr Yum: Mr Yum is an ANZ-headquartered QR menu, ordering, and payments platform serving restaurants. It is an emerging player that integrates with Kounta while also competing for the same venue relationships.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Kounta social profiles
Digital presenceKounta financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Kounta leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Kounta funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Kounta 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 Kounta
What does Kounta do?
Kounta (now operating as Lightspeed POS) provides a cloud-based, iPad-enabled point of sale (POS) platform for hospitality and retail businesses across Australia and New Zealand. The platform supports multi-channel order management (counter, floor staff, QR menu, delivery), integrated payments, inventory management, real-time analytics, and native integrations with accounting, delivery, and marketing tools.
Is Kounta a public or private company?
Kounta is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently acquired.
When was Kounta founded?
Kounta was founded in 2012. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Kounta based?
Kounta is headquartered in Sydney, Australia, in the Oceania region.
How does Kounta make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. SaaS Subscription (POS Software) is the primary driver. The others are hardware Sales and insights Upgrade.
Who are Kounta's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are TouchBistro, Toast, Square (Block), Clover (Fiserv) and Vend (now Lightspeed Retail X). Broad incumbents are Shopify POS, Lightspeed Retail and Lightspeed Restaurant (global). Emerging players are me&u and Mr Yum.
Does Kounta have an API?
Yes. Lightspeed POS (formerly Kounta) offers API integration capabilities, enabling connections with accounting software (Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks), ordering and delivery platforms (Deliveroo, Uber Eats, DoorDash), marketing tools, and employee management systems. Specific API technical details (REST, GraphQL, auth methods, rate limits) are not specified in the provided source. Developer documentation is at www.lightspeedhq.com/au/pos/retail/api.
What industry is Kounta in?
Kounta's product category is Restaurant and Retail Point of Sale (POS) Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is THALACAI, Point-of-Sale (POS) & On-Property Commerce, with a secondary code of FSAMADAC, POS Payment Software & Middleware (Terminal OS, Apps, Device Management). Its NAICS code is 5132 and its SIC code is 7372.