On November 16, 1920 Qantas was founded. 

On the same day in 1945, UNESCO was created. 

And on Friday, November 16, 2018, in a buzzy, backstreet Collingwood cafe called Lemon Middle & Orange, someone scanned a QR code to see pictures of all the items on the menu on their phone and Mr Yum was born.

It’s hard to believe now they are so much a part of our lives, but back then QR codes were a novelty - no one really knew what they were or how to use one. 

From that first scan, Mr Yum’s digital visual menu quickly evolved into a web-based order and payment platform. 

We signed our first major deal in mid 2019 - a partnership with Australian Venue Co, which is one of the country’s largest hospitality groups (and the best!).

They took a punt on us and rolled out Mr Yum order at the table technology in 160 pubs, bars and event spaces across Australia.

We wouldn’t be blowing out three candles on our cake if it wasn’t for this amazing partnership and their belief in Mr Yum from such an early stage. 

Just as we were getting some real traction, Australia was hit with the big C in early 2020 and the country went into lockdown. 

In order to help more than 500 venues working with us, which were limited to offering takeaway only, we quickly added pickup and delivery functionality to Mr Yum in just nine days.

‍It was an amazing rallying of the team. Long hours, late nights but some of the most rewarding times, too.

Being able to support the industry trade through lockdown was awesome - and when the country reopened again, helping our partners have a incredibly successful “silly season” and bumper summer was super satisfying to play a part in. 

This provided massive momentum and in April this year we closed an $11M post-seed funding round with investors including TEN13, AirTree Ventures, NBA superstar Patty Mills, Grammy Award winning legends Rüfüs Du Sol and many others. 

This financial firepower enabled us to launch in the UK and US simultaneously (eek), to take advantage of a window of opportunity as those countries reopened after long winter lockdowns. 

And so to today. In the past year we’ve grown from 15 to more than 100 full-time employees based across Australia (Melbourne HQ, Sydney and Brisbane), the US (Los Angeles), the UK (London), South Africa (Cape Town) and the Philippines.  

This growth hasn’t come at the expense of our team culture - something that we reckon sets us apart.  We ranked #4 in LinkedIn’s Top Startups 2021, which uses engagement data to identify companies growing and hiring top talent, and in an employee survey conducted earlier this year, we recorded a 96% engagement score. 

We’ve also been shortlisted for the AFR’s Best Places to Work and a finalist in the 2021 Pause Awards. 

Mr Yum has been used by more than 13 million people across four continents. In the past 12 months, 44% of Australians have used Mr Yum. And in our hometown of Melbourne, six in 10 people have used Mr Yum or heard of us. We’re about to finalise our Series A raise, which will turbocharge our plans for 2022 and beyond.

It’s been a wild, amazing, challenging, exciting and exhilarating ride.

And the best bit?

We’re just getting started. 

MR YUM BY THE NUMBERS

3 - years in operation

9 - days it took to add pickup and delivery functionality to Mr Yum when Melbourne first went into lockdown in 2021

5 - countries Mr Yum operates in

105+ - employees

13m - number of users this year in Australia 

60 - percentage of all Melburnians who have used or heard of Mr Yum

4.8 - star rating out of 5 for our product

50 pubs, 10 weeks, 6 states  - how we first rolled out table ordering at top AVC venues

30% - average higher order value through Mr Yum compared with orders over the bar at first AVC venues.

1500+ - venues using Mr Yum in November 2021

4 - ranking in LinkedIn’s 2021 Top Australian Startups

21,349 - product improvements rolled out since launch