Ashish Saxena Discusses How UrbanPiper is Revolutionising Restaurant Operations with Game-Changing Tech Solutions
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In this insightful interaction with StartupTalky, Ashish Saxena, President of UrbanPiper, shares how the company evolved from creating a loyalty platform for restaurants to offering complete technology solutions. He explains how the company shifted focus to solving operational challenges with products like Meraki and Hub, which help streamline restaurant operations. Saxena talks about the growing impact of technology in the restaurant industry, focusing on trends like voice ordering and dynamic pricing. He also highlights how UrbanPiper simplifies operations for both small and medium restaurants, mentioning partnerships with global brands and its expansion into markets like the U.S., Canada, the Middle East, and the UK.
StartupTalky: What was the initial idea behind starting UrbanPiper, and how has the company evolved since then?
Mr. Saxena: The idea for UrbanPiper began in 2014 as an effort to create a loyalty platform for restaurants. Programs like Starbucks Rewards showed us how a simple tool could build meaningful customer relationships, and we wanted to bring that to restaurants in India. But as we worked closely with restaurant owners, we realized there were far deeper operational challenges that needed to be solved first—challenges that directly impacted their ability to run efficient businesses.
By 2016, we had officially launched UrbanPiper to address these operational challenges through practical and reliable technology solutions. Our first product, Meraki, helped restaurants establish their online ordering systems through branded websites and mobile apps, giving them complete ownership of their digital storefront.
Around the same time, the food delivery landscape in India was changing rapidly. Platforms like Foodpanda, TinyOwl, Uber Eats, Zomato, and Swiggy were becoming indispensable for customers, but they brought a new layer of complexity to restaurants. Managing orders, menus, and item availability across multiple platforms quickly became a logistical challenge, often leading to errors, inefficiencies, and lost opportunities.
That’s when our product, Hub, took shape. We built it as a platform to help restaurants streamline their operations effortlessly across all delivery channels. With Hub, they can publish menus, manage orders, and get a unified view of their entire business—across brands, locations, and delivery platforms—all from a single interface. It even integrates seamlessly with their point-of-sale system, making day-to-day operations smooth and efficient. It was built to solve a very real, everyday problem for restaurateurs, and it remains the cornerstone of what we offer today.
The journey since then has been one of constant evolution. UrbanPiper has now grown into a full technology stack that includes POS systems, third-party delivery integrations, inventory management, order reconciliation, kitchen display systems, kiosks, and much more. These comprehensive solutions are now trusted by over 45,000 restaurants across 30+ countries, including global names such as McDonald’s, KFC, Pizza Hut, and Subway.
While the journey has taken us to a global stage, our focus has always been the same: listening to restaurants, understanding their challenges, and building solutions that help them do what they do best.
Anish Sharma
StartupTalky: How do you see the restaurant technology industry changing in the next few years, and what trends do you think will shape it?
Mr. Saxena: The next few years will see restaurants embracing technology in ways that make their operations smarter, more efficient, and more adaptable to changing consumer habits. While online food delivery will remain central to restaurant revenues, we’re already seeing the ecosystem expand. Trends like voice ordering, dynamic pricing, and self-service kiosks are starting to gain adoption, offering new ways for restaurants to engage customers and optimize operations.
Another significant shift is the growing importance of data-driven decision-making. It’s no longer just about collecting data; restaurants need tools that deliver actionable insights. Whether it’s understanding peak order times, refining menu performance, or managing inventory more accurately, data is becoming essential to running smarter and more efficient businesses.
For multi-location and multi-brand restaurants, menu accuracy and operational consistency across platforms remain ongoing challenges. Even a minor error—like an unavailable item showing as in stock—can lead to cancelled orders and frustrated customers. That’s where tools like Periscope come in. Periscope helps restaurants monitor their digital storefronts in near real-time, ensuring menus, stock availability, and other details remain accurate across delivery platforms. By automating what was once a time-consuming manual process, we’re helping restaurants reduce errors and operate with greater precision.
The industry will continue to evolve, but the focus will remain on solving practical, everyday challenges. Restaurants that adopt technology to streamline operations and respond to customer needs more effectively will be better positioned to grow.
StartupTalky: How does UrbanPiper help small and medium restaurants simplify their operations and grow their businesses?
Mr. Saxena: UrbanPiper simplifies operations for small and medium restaurants by offering a single, centralized platform to manage all their online food delivery channels. With integrations across leading delivery platforms like Zomato and Swiggy and seamless connections to their point-of-sale (POS) systems, restaurants no longer need to juggle multiple systems or devices to manage orders, menus, and performance.
By centralizing these workflows, restaurants can make updates—like menu changes or stock availability—quickly and efficiently across all platforms. This not only saves time but also minimizes errors, such as stock mismatches, which often lead to cancelled orders and lost revenue.
For smaller restaurants that operate with tighter resources, our tools significantly reduce operational overhead and manual intervention, allowing them to focus on maintaining efficiency and delivering great customer experiences.
StartupTalky: UrbanPiper serves clients like McDonald’s, KFC, and Subway, as well as local Indian favourites. How do you customise your solutions to meet the unique needs of both global chains and regional restaurants?
Mr. Saxena: The core challenges restaurants face, whether they’re global giants or small, regional favourites, are often similar: ensuring operational efficiency, maintaining accuracy across platforms, and delivering exceptional customer experiences. What varies is the scale, workflows, and infrastructure they rely on, and that’s where our adaptability becomes critical.
For global brands like McDonald’s, KFC, and Subway, the requirements are more complex. They often need tailored workflows, robust reporting, and custom integrations to align with regional delivery platforms and POS systems. For instance, no two regions use identical tools—payment gateways, delivery aggregators, or fulfilment systems—and we invest in building reliable integrations that accommodate these specific needs.
On the other hand, for smaller or regional restaurants, the priority is simplicity and scalability. These businesses need tools that are intuitive, efficient, and easy to adopt—without overcomplicating their operations. Whether it’s ensuring real-time menu updates, managing orders seamlessly, or reconciling data across multiple platforms, our solutions are designed to help smaller restaurants operate like well-oiled machines.
What truly enables this flexibility is the scale and depth of our platform. With official integrations across 350+ POS systems and 70+ delivery platforms globally, we’ve created a system that can adapt to the unique needs of any restaurant, whether they’re a single-location café in Mumbai or a multi-country chain.
At the heart of it all is our commitment to working closely with our partners, understanding their unique challenges, and building technology that doesn’t just fit into their operations but enhances them. This collaborative approach has helped us become a trusted partner for restaurants across 30+ countries, enabling them to scale efficiently, regardless of size or complexity.
Muskaan Kapoor
StartupTalky: What changes can U.S. and Canadian customers expect with the rebranding and integration of Ordermark into the UrbanPiper platform?
Mr. Saxena: U.S. and Canadian customers can expect a lot of exciting improvements as we integrate Ordermark into the UrbanPiper platform.
First and foremost, the rebranding isn’t just a name change, it’s about bringing the best of both worlds together. UrbanPiper’s proven expertise in helping restaurants simplify their online operations, combined with Ordermark’s deep roots in the U.S. and Canadian markets, means a more robust, scalable solution.
Customers will see an enhanced platform that offers greater flexibility, powerful reporting tools, stock automation tools, and seamless integrations. For example, UrbanPiper connects with 350+ POS systems, so restaurants can manage all their channels through a single, streamlined dashboard. This kind of operational control will help restaurants of all sizes optimize their workflows and scale with confidence.
Advanced security settings further allow teams to assign role-based access, ensuring data is managed securely.
We’re also focusing on ensuring the transition is smooth. Our team is deeply committed to supporting customers every step of the way — not just during the integration, but as ongoing partners invested in their success.
Ultimately, this is about creating more value for the restaurant community. By bringing Ordermark fully into the UrbanPiper ecosystem, we’re setting the stage to help restaurants operate smarter, grow faster, and serve their customers better.
StartupTalky: UrbanPiper processes 8 lakh orders daily in India. What key features or strategies have driven this success, and how do you plan to replicate it globally?
Mr. Saxena: The scale we’ve achieved in India—processing 8 lakh orders daily—has been driven by a few fundamental principles: reliability, seamless integrations, and a deep understanding of restaurant operations.
Our official API integrations with 350+ POS systems and 70+ delivery platforms ensure that orders flow seamlessly and menus are managed efficiently, reducing errors like stock mismatches that often lead to cancellations. With 99.99% API uptime, we provide restaurants with the reliability they need to operate smoothly, even during high-pressure times like weekends or festivals when order volumes peak. This reliability is non-negotiable because, for restaurants, every order matters.
The strategy globally is to replicate this foundation while adapting to the unique needs of each market. The challenges restaurants face—whether in India, the U.S., or Europe—are similar at their core, but the systems, workflows, and delivery platforms they rely on can differ significantly. That’s where our adaptability comes in.
We focus on building official integrations with local POS systems and delivery platforms to ensure the same level of seamless compatibility. Additionally, we expand our partner network to provide localized support, helping restaurants navigate region-specific requirements effortlessly.
Ultimately, our approach remains the same: listening to our restaurant partners, understanding their challenges, and delivering solutions that simplify their operations. By staying close to their needs and tailoring our platform to regional requirements, we’re confident in our ability to replicate the success we’ve seen in India on a global scale.
StartupTalky: With investors like Peak XV, Tiger Global, Swiggy, and Zomato, how has their support influenced UrbanPiper's growth strategy and market expansion?
Mr. Saxena: The support from investors like Peak XV, Tiger Global, Swiggy, and Zomato has been instrumental—not just in enabling growth but also in sharpening our focus on what truly matters: building technology that helps restaurants thrive.
These investors bring far more than just financial backing. Platforms like Swiggy and Zomato are deeply embedded in the food delivery ecosystem, and their insights into industry trends, operational challenges, and partner expectations have been invaluable. This close collaboration allows us to stay ahead of the curve, ensuring our platform continues to address real-world challenges that restaurants face daily.
On the other hand, partners like Tiger Global and Peak XV have provided the strategic guidance and resources that have fueled our global expansion. Their confidence in our vision has empowered us to scale our operations to over 30+ countries, strengthen our platform’s capabilities, and deepen our integrations with 350+ POS systems and 70+ delivery platforms.
Together, this support has helped us focus on building a platform that’s reliable, adaptable, and tailored to meet the diverse needs of restaurants—whether it’s a small café or a global chain. It’s this combination of strategic insight, operational experience, and trust that continues to drive our growth and sets us up to tackle new markets as we expand further.
Rishabh Rathi
StartupTalky: What role do integrations with POS systems and delivery platforms play in UrbanPiper’s success, and how do they improve operational efficiency for restaurant owners?
Mr. Saxena: At UrbanPiper, integrations with POS systems and delivery platforms have always been about solving real problems that restaurant owners face every day. Whether it’s a bustling café juggling orders during lunch hour or a multi-outlet brand managing hundreds of deliveries, the operational challenges are the same—too many platforms, too many updates, and too little time.
By connecting with 350+ POS systems and 70+ delivery platforms, UrbanPiper brings all these operations together into a single, unified interface. Imagine a restaurant updating its menu once, and within moments, that change reflects seamlessly across Swiggy, Zomato, and all other delivery platforms. No manual errors, no missed orders—just smooth, reliable operations.
For restaurant owners, this isn’t just about technology; it’s about freeing up time and energy. Teams no longer need to spend hours reconciling orders or dealing with stock mismatches that lead to cancellations. Instead, they can focus on what truly matters—serving great food and creating memorable customer experiences.
We’ve seen how transformative this can be. One of our partners told us how they used to update menus for five delivery platforms individually—a process that took hours. With UrbanPiper, that time shrunk to minutes. For them, it wasn’t just about efficiency; it meant fewer late nights and happier teams.
At its heart, these integrations reflect what UrbanPiper stands for: building tools that simplify the complexities of restaurant operations. Whether you’re running a neighborhood café or a global brand, our goal is to give you the confidence that everything behind the scenes just works—so you can focus on growing your business and delighting your customers.
StartupTalky: You aim to increase your U.S. restaurant base by 10x by 2027. What specific strategies will help achieve this ambitious target?
Mr. Saxena: The playbook for achieving this target remains clear and proven. At UrbanPiper, we believe that to win a market, you need three non-negotiables: a best-in-class product, world-class customer service, and rock-solid reliability. With the integration of Ordermark, we’ve unified the strengths of both platforms, and I can confidently say we now have all three pieces firmly in place to deliver at scale.
Our product is already trusted by over 45,000 restaurants across 30+ countries. We’ve built deep, official integrations with the best POS systems and delivery platforms, ensuring seamless operations. Whether it’s menu management, order flow, or inventory reconciliation, everything works flawlessly—saving restaurants time and minimizing errors. And reliability? It’s a given. With 99.99% API uptime, restaurants can depend on us to perform, especially when it matters most.
What truly sets us apart, though, is the unparalleled 24/7 customer service we provide. Whether it’s through calls, WhatsApp, email, or in-app chat, restaurants can reach us anytime, through any channel they prefer. We don’t just build tools; we stay by our partners’ sides to make sure they succeed.
These strategies aren’t theoretical—we’ve seen them deliver results. In markets like India, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and the UK, some of the world’s largest brands have been working with us for years. We’ve built trust, and deep relationships, and proven our ability to adapt and deliver in diverse geographies.
The foundation is set, and the path is clear. At the heart of it all is our incredible team—a group of talented, relentless individuals who work tirelessly to keep us ahead of the curve. For us, it’s about staying close to our partners, continuing to innovate, and consistently over-delivering on the value we bring. We know what it takes to unlock this market, and we’re fully equipped to get there.
StartupTalky: What are UrbanPiper’s long-term plans for innovation, global expansion, and supporting restaurateurs in the face of the evolving F&B industry?
Mr. Saxena: Our focus has always been on solving real problems for restaurateurs, and that commitment drives our plans for innovation, expansion, and support as the industry continues to evolve.
On the innovation front, we’re continuously building tools that address the operational challenges restaurants face every day. Take Periscope, for example. It gives restaurants a customer’s view of their digital storefronts across platforms, ensuring menus, stock availability, and other critical details remain accurate. This visibility, delivered in near real-time, reduces manual errors and helps restaurants avoid lost revenue opportunities caused by inaccuracies.
We also see enormous potential in AI-powered solutions. From dynamic pricing that helps restaurants optimize their margins to integrating AI across multiple tools to streamline workflows, artificial intelligence will redefine how restaurants operate over the next decade. It’s an area where we’re investing heavily, as we believe it will not only improve operational efficiency but also help restaurants respond faster and smarter to evolving consumer demands.
None of this would be possible without fostering a culture of constant experimentation. At UrbanPiper, we’ve always been clear: standing still isn’t an option. Innovation means taking calculated risks—some ideas will succeed, some won’t, but that’s how we learn, adapt, and uncover solutions that truly make a difference. To drive this forward, we continue to invest in world-class product and engineering talent, empowering our team to stay ahead of the curve.
For global expansion, we’re strengthening our presence in key markets like the U.S., Canada, the Middle East, and the UK. The playbook remains the same: build strong relationships with local POS systems, delivery platforms, and partners, while tailoring our solutions to meet regional requirements. This approach has worked across 30+ countries, and we’re confident it will drive success in new markets.
At the end of the day, our goal is simple: to ensure that restaurants—regardless of size or location—have the tools, support, and technology they need to succeed in a rapidly evolving industry.
Anagha S
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