Livelenz Inc. Secures $1 Million Venture Capital Investment

A Kings County company that developed real-time data analytics software for the quick-service restaurant and retail industry is hiring more employees, expanding into new markets and enhancing its product with a venture investment from the province.

Livelenz Inc. has secured $1 million in equity financing from Innovacorp.

"Innovative knowledge-based start-ups like Livelenz play a vital role in growing the province's economy and fulfilling our jobsHere strategy," said Economic and Rural Development and Tourism Minister Percy Paris. "We're proud to be investing in a company that competes in the global marketplace from its home in rural Nova Scotia."

Livelenz gives restaurant and retail industry managers and owners real-time information they can use to improve sales and operations to increase profitability. Through Livelenz's online portal, users can see the latest transaction information coming from their point-of-sale system or receipt printer. The information can be viewed anywhere with Internet access including on tablets and smartphones.

The product provides up-to-the-minute vital business measurements, including sales, labour, cost of sales, productivity, and product-mix data.

"There are more than 250,000 quick-service restaurants in the U.S. and Canada, and they represent the fastest growing segment of the restaurant market," said Greg Phipps, Innovacorp's director of investment. "Profit margins are tight, but real-time business analytics from Livelenz lets them remotely monitor and react to activity at multiple store locations and quickly make decisions that improve those profit margins."

Livelenz's data analytics has been installed in more than 5,000 quick-service restaurants in eight countries. Subway is the company's largest customer, with more than 2,000 installs. Other customers include Extreme Pita, Taco Time and Mucho Burrito.

The company was founded in 2010 by Joel Doherty, a veteran sales and operations executive in the software industry, and Daryl Fraser, an owner and operator of multiple quick-service restaurants in the Annapolis Valley. It has 10 employees, most of which are based at the company's offices in Centreville, and was recently named Innovator of the Year by the Eastern Kings Chamber of Commerce.

"Our unique web-based solutions have led the marketplace because they are relevant, simple and provide meaningful business data not otherwise available through a typical point-of-sale system," said Mr. Doherty, president and CEO of Livelenz. "We're constantly improving our products based on customer feedback and practical experience at the store level. Our successes in the quick-service restaurant space have led to new markets, which offer tremendous growth prospects for 2012."