A new app aims to bring more people into B.C. restaurants.
Bravo Rewards, recently launched by a Richmond-based entrepreneur, offers discounted dine-in rates when customers preload a lump sum onto the platform.
“Basically you top up on our app — for example, $100 will give you $105,” said Max So, founder and CEO of Bravo.
When customers use Bravo to pay at participating restaurants, they receive a discount too — for example, $5 off every $50 spent — along with reward points.
“Then by loading $100, you might get around 15 per cent in total discount,” said So.
He said he hopes the app will encourage more people to dine out at local restaurants. In return, restaurants that offer discounts gain visibility on the app and receive upfront bulk payments.
“It’s a win-win,” he said.
So, a serial entrepreneur, came up with the idea for Bravo “by accident” after he saw a local restaurant offering a $1,000 gift card for $800.
“I realized [many] restaurants are suffering right now. They don’t have enough cash flow. All these costs that they are facing are going up and up and never come back down, so they need cash up front,” said So.
Bravo pre-purchases store credit from restaurants at a discount, sells it to users through the app while keeping a portion as its margin. The company also uses unused customer balances to invest in new restaurants.
“Bravo basically goes into every restaurant and asks the owner, ‘Can you sell me part of your future revenue? Let me operate that for you,’” said So.
Since launching last year, the company has partnered with around 300 restaurants in B.C. and gained more than 30,000 users. It raised a total of $2.5 million in two angel rounds in 2024 led by Celtic House Asia Partners and Hat-Trick Capital.
Digitalizing local restaurants
Lanxuan Restaurant in Richmond joined Bravo earlier this year after being attracted by the upfront cash offering.
“It helps with our cash flow by getting paid in advance, and provides another payment option for our customers,” said James Luo, general manager of Lanxuan, adding that about five per cent of their customers now pay with the platform.
Experts say Bravo’s model is innovative and potentially beneficial for both restaurants and customers, but scale is critical.
“If the platform is too small, with too few users, restaurants might not be incentivized enough to participate because it takes extra time and resources to maintain an extra app in the restaurant system,” said James Wang, adjunct professor of marketing at the University of British Columbia.
Wang compared Bravo’s model to Expedia’s, which wholesales hotel rooms and resells them online, but with much larger traffic.
He also noted that busy restaurants, or those only looking to attract customers during off-peak hours, may be less motivated to join Bravo, as the app doesn’t restrict when users can use the credit.
“Selling future [seats] at a steep discount for busy periods is a huge risk. The restaurants could have sold the [seats] at the original much higher revenue for busy periods,” said Wang.
So said his goal is to partner with 800 restaurants across B.C., and he’s eyeing expansion into Calgary, Toronto and Seattle later this year.
His vision for Bravo goes beyond a rewards app — he wants to help “digitalize” the restaurant industry.
“The biggest advantage about Bravo is that we are able to capture all this proprietary data that’s generated from our user, which will be very valuable for restaurants and the industry,” he said.
Restaurants can use this data to forecast revenue and guide daily operations, including ingredient preparation and staffing.
So said there’s something special about eating in a restaurant and connecting with people who cook the food, that’s why he is passionate about helping them.
“What actually identifies a city is all these different restaurants and retailers. If you don’t support them, eventually you are going to see [big chains] everywhere,” said So.
