Insider Brief
- Dishio Holdings raised a $2.5 million seed round at a $20 million valuation as it expands Dishio, an AI platform designed to help restaurants use guest data to drive repeat visits.
- The newly formed company includes Dishio and restaurant marketing agency Dineline, which Dishio said has worked with about 2,500 brands, including IHOP, Dairy Queen and Dallas BBQ.
- Dishio said it has more than 350 restaurant customers in its first year, with the platform connecting data from QR menus, ads, POS systems, reservations, loyalty programs and online ordering into a single customer-intelligence layer.
Dishio Holdings has raised a $2.5 million seed round at a $20 million valuation as the company looks to expand its AI platform designed to help restaurants turn guest data into repeat business.
The newly formed company includes Dishio with its restaurant technology platform and restaurant marketing agency Dineline. Dishio Holdings is led by co-founders Brett Linkletter and Jace Kovacevich.
Dishio emerges from stealth with more than 350 restaurant customers in its first year, according to company, with restaurants using the platform reporting year-over-year sales growth of 10% to 20% and average retention gains of 15% within months of implementation.
“What restaurants need is visibility into what’s driving repeat business,” co-founder and CEO Brett Linkletter pointed out in the announcement. “Most operators are still stuck with disconnected systems that track transactions but don’t help build guest relationships. Dishio unifies those touchpoints and turns them into revenue and profit margin growth. At the end of the day, we’re trying to help restaurants modernize hospitality without losing the human experience that makes the industry special.”
Dishio pointed out the platform connects information from QR menus, digital advertising, point-of-sale systems, reservations, loyalty programs and online ordering into what the company describes as a single customer-intelligence layer.
That gives restaurants a clearer picture of how guests discover them, what marketing campaigns drive visits and revenue, what customers ordered previously, how diners engage across locations and which offers are most likely to bring them back.
The company noted that a key part of the platform is an AI-powered creative engine that generates marketing assets based on guest behavior and restaurant performance data. Dishio said that allows operators to create and test personalized promotions tied to specific audiences, menu items, offers and customer actions, rather than relying on broader campaigns or static promotions.
“The AI creative engine came from years of managing restaurant campaigns through Dineline and seeing how difficult it was for operators to produce high-performing marketing at scale,” co-founder and COO Jace Kovacevich. “Restaurants are expected to constantly create new campaigns, promotions, social assets, and offers, but most teams don’t have the internal resources to keep up. Dishio allows operators to move faster without sacrificing relevance or authenticity.”
The company said Dineline has worked with about 2,500 brands, including IHOP, Dairy Queen and Dallas BBQ.
Dishio said it plans to continue expanding the platform through 2026 with new features including an ad campaign builder, advanced reservation tools and additional remarketing features, as it works toward a broader restaurant operating system centered on guest engagement and repeat visits.
Rimmer Covington, owner/operator of the multi-location Gulf Coast restaurant brand Shaggy’s, said the company has long focused on building a community-oriented brand around the guest experience — and Dishio has helped in that.
“Having better visibility into how guests discover us, engage with us, and return has been incredibly valuable,” Covington said. “Dishio has helped us build one-to-one guest relationships across locations while giving us clearer insight into what’s driving engagement and visits.”
