Groupon Alternative: Daily Gobble Offers Exclusive Restaurant Deals--No Coupon Required--to Increase Revenues

WHAT: Exclusive deals for customers at more than 400 restaurants in New York City and San Francisco. Deals can be available all day or for a few hours. Members use the website and mobile app to find and activate a discount, upload a photo of their receipt and receive money back within an hour.  

On the business side, Daily Gobble [ @dailygobble ] helps restaurants maximize revenue (a.k.a. yield management) and provides a loyalty marketing tool.

LAUNCHERS: Dazhi Chen, CEO [@tigerchen , LinkedIn ]. Tao Yang, Business Development [ @taotaoya , LinkedIn ].

BACKSTORY: This is actually the second time Dazhi is working on this idea. "The first time was in 1999, and I was inspired by Priceline doing yield management for hotels and airlines," Dazhi tells LAUNCH. 

BUSINESS MODEL: Charges a percentage of the pre-tax bill to restaurants. The higher the discount offered to customers, the lower the service rate. The service is free to all customers.

COMPETITION: MealTicket [ Read LAUNCH's coverage here ] as well as Groupon and LivingSocial.

INVESTORS: 500 Startups, restaurant industry bankers/professionals and angels.

RAISING: $1M

SCREEN SHOT

Deal hunters use the Daily Gobble website or mobile app to find nearby deals.