Melbourne start-up Mr Yum hungry for US, UK expansion after funding from NBA star Patty Mills, Rüfüs Du Sol

This Melbourne start-up has been fuelled by investment from the likes of NBA star Patty Mills and electronic act Rüfüs Du Sol.

Mr Yum CEO and co-founder Kim Teo.

Fuelled by rampant growth amid the Covid-19 pandemic and a $11m funding round, hospitality software outfit Mr Yum is taking its business global, expanding to the UK and the US to offer millions of new customers its QR code platform for ordering food and beverages.

Mr Yum increased its customer base 29-fold last year and now has more than 10 million people using its platform globally, according to co-founder and chief executive Kim Teo.

The start-up is using its funding round, from investors including NBA star Patty Mills and electronic act Rufus Du Sol, to capitalise on momentum and rapidly expand at a global level.

“At the start of Covid, 18 months ago we were a really small team, and we were really new to the market,” Ms Teo said.

“Then it all happened. It wasn’t our plan to go against delivery apps or delivery aggregators, we just wanted to be there for our customers, but we ended up adding all this new functionality like our takeaway product and we’ve now onboarded over 100 people onto our team.

NBA star and Mr Yum investor Patty Mills. Picture: Sarah Stier/Getty Images/AFP

“It’s been a lot of growth for 18 months, but the team has handled it really well. I think we’ve hired really well and I’m really proud of that.”

Growing at such a rapid clip can be a challenge for any executive, and Ms Teo said “being picky” was a key aspect to successfully hiring good talent. She’s also relied on cloud software including customer service and marketing platform HubSpot to scale up without everything breaking.

“Just because we need three people quickly doesn’t mean we hire the first three people that we meet,” she said.

“So you need to feel like you’re constantly upholding a high standard. It’s also different in different regions, like Melbourne, for example, it’s been easy to hire because everyone knows our brand now, but in Los Angeles it’s a totally different culture, and it’s humbling trying to hire in a city where no one knows who you are.

“It’s all a lot easier in general when you’ve got momentum and growth, and culture is easier when the business is doing well, it’s exciting and there are so many opportunities. It’s just been a crazy 18 months.”

Ms Teo said Australia’s handling of the pandemic meant at the start of this year, Mr Yum was six months ahead of the UK and US reopening, and the business leveraged local knowledge gained during the pandemic last year to apply in new markets.

The start-up recently closed a $11m funding round, from a ­diverse group including venture capital firms TEN13 and AirTree, alongside Australian Venue Co, Myles Munro and Daragh Kan from 100 Burgers Group, Untitled Group, Unified Music Group, NBA star Patty Mills, Linktree founders Anthony Zaccaria, Alex Zaccaria and Nick Humphreys, Shark Tank star Andrew Banks, angel investor Matt Allen and electronic dance act Rufus Du Sol.

It did not disclose its current valuation.

Mr Yum’s software platform offers QR codes for mobile menus, ordering and payments for restaurants, and Ms Teo said that despite Australia’s QR code explosion during the pandemic, adoption was still low in the US.

Supplied Entertainment Australian electronic group Rufus Du Sol. Picture: Supplied.

“Less than one in 200 locations have QR code ordering and payments systems, which is funny because they invented Apple Pay and PayPal,” she said. “But things like Apple Pay are far behind where it is in Australia, and you need a physical card everywhere you go in the US still.

“It’s definitely going to take more time because of the tipping model and the service model, so for us it’s a big risk and big reward market. It’s going to take a bit longer but it’s definitely worth our time.

“There has been a lot of scepticism about QR codes and whether they’re here to stay, but I can tell you they have been transformative for connecting physical with digital. And it’s not just menus. It’s advertising, it’s supply chain tracking, it’s everything. There’ll be no going back.”