The restaurant industry moves fast, but its tech hasn’t. Despite being a $1.5 trillion market, it’s one of the most overlooked when it comes to innovation, especially in franchise and fast-casual operations.

Outdated systems have led to a tangle of inefficiencies, from wasted supplies and high labor turnover to staffing challenges. Moreover, with food costs representing approximately 30 percent of a restaurant's daily sales, inadequate inventory management makes food waste one of the biggest drains on profit.

So why hasn’t this changed? Restaurants have been historically resistant to technology adoption due to high implementation costs, complexity of operations, and a reliance on long-standing, siloed technology systems.

At Myriad Venture Partners, we’re committed to backing founders and companies that are laying the groundwork for new efficiencies and long-term success across industries. ClearCOGS is a prime example of a breakthrough solution for deeply embedded legacy industry challenges, introducing turnkey technology that seamlessly integrates into existing operations.

A New Approach, Built by Industry Insiders

Recognizing the sector's unique challenges, Matt Wampler and Osa Osarenkhoe founded ClearCOGS to meet restaurants where they are at, introducing powerful AI predictive analytics tools that plug directly into the systems they already use.

As a former Jimmy John’s franchisee, Matt turned around a struggling location when he was just 21, increasing revenue by 600 percent and going on to build one of the company’s top-performing chains on the East Coast. This lived experience has given him first-hand insight into the operational challenges restaurant managers face as they grow.

Osa, a second-time founder with a previous successful exit in the AdTech space and a seasoned machine learning engineer, brings the technical firepower. His experience at Verizon and in scaling tech startups gives ClearCOGS the depth to bridge bleeding-edge AI with real-world utility and experience.

Rewriting the Playbook for Restaurant Operations

The restaurant sector faces fundamental operational pain points that have made previous attempts at innovation difficult. But ClearCOGS is tackling them head-on.

Inventory Management Inefficiencies

Inefficiencies in inventory management and food waste lead to significant portions of a restaurant’s operational losses. Most operators still rely on four-week moving averages, a method that fails to account for external drivers like weather, holidays, and local events. Restaurants have a near-sighted operational view, as a result.    

ClearCOGS integrates directly into restaurant ordering and point of sale (POS) systems, using real-time data and predictive modeling to help operators make smarter decisions. A clearer line-of-sight optimizes food ordering, reduces waste, improves scheduling, and creates stronger margins.

Labor Shortages

Staffing has been a primary, long-term challenge for restaurants, with 70 percent of restaurant operators struggling to fill job openings due to high turnover and demanding work conditions. But ClearCOGS is changing the narrative by automating burdensome staffing and prep protocols for both managers and line employees alike to increase employee satisfaction, improve training, decrease turnover, and sustain operational stability.

Automation in Operations

Speed and consistency are foundational to a restaurant’s success. By integrating automated systems into kitchen operations, restaurants can significantly improve efficiency by streamlining order production, training employees, improving cooking consistency and quality, and assisting in repetitive tasks.

Through ClearCOGS’ platform, management is able to gain valuable data-driven insights into core restaurant operations. Operators can respond quickly to changing business trends and optimize their functional positioning in a way that was previously impossible with legacy systems.

The ClearCOGS Difference

ClearCOGS’ ability to seamlessly integrate operational intelligence into a restaurant’s existing order system, along with the platform's analysis of external factors, provides greater clarity and a holistic view of a restaurant's operations as compared to other competitive solutions. Customers can see the benefits of predictive real-time analytics immediately without changing their existing technology stack.

The ClearCOGS team is already proving its success with top restaurant brands, and early partners are seeing tangible results:

• Jimmy John’s operators report improved demand planning and greater confidence, with an average savings of 53 percent on one of their core items, bread.
• Red White & Que reported a 21x return on investment (ROI) with ClearCOGS by saving on food waste and labor.
• Goop Kitchen achieved a 2 percent overnight profit increase just by turning on the product.

While the first iteration of ClearCOGS’ platform is focused on solving the most difficult and present restaurant challenges, its direct integration into restaurants’ technology stack and proprietary AI product suite provides a strong foundation to build upon. The platform drives unparalleled present and future value in core operations through smart labor scheduling, demand forecasting, and broader business strategy.

ClearCOGS plans to use its $3.8 million oversubscribed Seed round — led by Closed Loop Partners, with participation from Myriad Venture Partners and Level Up Ventures, a venture arm of Hearst Corporation — to accelerate product development and rapidly expand its presence across the broader food service sector. By establishing an AI-powered foundation for restaurant operations, ClearCOGS is poised to continue expansion into predictive labor scheduling, operations management, and AI-driven business optimization.

Partnering with the Future of Restaurant & Hospitality Tech

Myriad’s investment in ClearCOGS reflects our belief in the team’s ability to modernize a historically tech-averse industry. ClearCOGS bridges the gap between innovation and real-world restaurant operations, driving efficiency, profitability, and sustainability. As the industry increasingly leans on data to make smarter decisions, ClearCOGS is becoming an indispensable tool for the food service and hospitality industry nationwide.

While AI isn’t replacing restaurant managers, it’s making them more effective. ClearCOGS empowers operators to focus less on logistics and more on what truly matters: hospitality, the customer experience, and delicious food.

This is the future of food service tech, and we’re proud to be part of the journey.