Starbucks buys stake in retail-technology startup Brightloom

Starbucks Coffee Company has announced a deal with Brightloom (formerly Eatsa), a San Francisco and Seattle tech company that is working to create a best-in-class end-to-end digital customer experience platform for the restaurant industry.

Starbucks is granting Brightloom a software license to select components of Starbucks’ proprietary digital flywheel software. In connection with the licensing agreement, Starbucks will take an equity stake in Brightloom and receive a seat on the company’s board of directors.

Brightloom will combine its existing technology assets with software licensed from Starbucks’ digital flywheel. The combination will lead to the development of a cloud-based software solution for the restaurant industry that will connect customers to their favorite restaurant brands – particularly valuable given the recent hypergrowth of mobile ordering and third-party delivery platforms.

Brightloom plans on making the software solutions available to Starbucks’ global license partners and will open this platform up to the entire restaurant industry of merchants. Starbucks will continue to drive software development of the Starbucks digital flywheel for all its company-operated markets.

“We’re delighted to partner with Brightloom and drive a broad innovation agenda that extends relevant customer experiences from brick-and-mortar to a digital-mobile customer connection,” said Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson.

“At Starbucks, we have experienced first-hand the power that comes through digital customer connections that are relevant to the customer. The results we’ve seen in customer loyalty and frequency within our digital ecosystem speak for themselves, and we’re excited to apply these innovations toward an industry solution that elevates the customer experience across the restaurant industry.”