Kounta

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

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

• Cloud point of sale
• Hospitality POS software
• Retail POS systems
• Restaurant point of sale
• IPad POS platform

Headquarters

HQ city

Sydney

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. 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
2. Hardware Sales: Sale of POS hardware including iPad stands, cash drawers, printers, and scanner equipment. Hardware is sold through the Lightspeed hardware store
3. Insights Upgrade: Advanced analytics and reporting features available at additional cost for customers wanting custom reports, trend analysis, and scheduled reports

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core 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

Named customers3 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration13 records

AI capability6 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered core, supporting and flagship.

• XerocoreTechnology or IntegrationAccounting software integration allowing seamless financial data sync between Lightspeed POS and Xero for painless reconciliation.
• MYOBcoreTechnology or IntegrationAccounting software integration for MYOB users to sync POS data directly into their accounting system.
• QuickBookscoreTechnology or IntegrationQuickBooks accounting integration enabling automatic data flow from POS to accounting software.
• DeliveroocoreTechnology or IntegrationDelivery platform integration syncing orders directly into Lightspeed POS workflow.
• Uber EatscoreTechnology or IntegrationIntegration with Uber Eats for seamless order management and delivery workflow.
• DoorDashcoreTechnology or IntegrationDoorDash integration for delivery order management through Lightspeed POS.
• me&ucoreTechnology or IntegrationQR menu and ordering platform integration for contactless dining experience.
• Mr YumcoreTechnology or IntegrationQR ordering and payment platform integration for hospitality venues.
• DeputysupportingTechnology or IntegrationEmployee scheduling and management software integration.
• TandasupportingTechnology or IntegrationWorkforce management and scheduling integration for hospitality.
• LivensupportingTechnology or IntegrationMarketing and loyalty platform integration.
• MarsellosupportingTechnology or IntegrationCustomer marketing and loyalty program integration.
• LokesupportingTechnology or IntegrationMarketing platform for hospitality venues.
• LightspeedflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerKounta 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

Direct 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

• Xx.com/kounta
• Facebookfacebook.com/kountapos
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/2821280

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Kounta