Certus AI

What do they actually do

Certus AI builds and runs an always-on phone agent for restaurants. After a short onboarding where the operator shares hours, menu, and booking rules, Certus trains a customized agent in a few days and the restaurant forwards its phone line to Certus. From then on, the agent answers every call 24/7, takes orders and reservations, handles simple complaints, and pushes the results into the restaurant’s existing systems instead of a staff member doing it by hand (site, how it works, YC profile).

Orders and bookings flow into common POS and delivery platforms (they list Toast, Square, Clover, DoorDash, Uber Eats and more, with 45+ integrations), and operators get a dashboard showing calls, orders, “recovered” revenue, upsell rate, and time saved, plus simple controls for hours, voice, and knowledge updates. The system supports multiple languages and can handle many simultaneous calls (site, demo/dashboard, blog).

Reality check: setup involves a brief integration/tuning phase by Certus, not a one-click app. Handling very large or highly customized menus may require extra tuning; Certus highlights a case involving a 120‑item menu before things ran smoothly. Secure phone payments are listed as “coming soon,” suggesting card-by-phone is still rolling out. Near-term work focuses on deeper integrations, broader payment handling, multilingual accuracy, and reliability at busy times (demo page testimonial, site, how it works, YC profile).

Who are their target customer(s)

• Independent takeout-focused restaurant owner: Missed or busy phone lines mean lost orders and callbacks; staff time is wasted returning voicemails. They want calls answered and orders pushed into POS/delivery automatically.
• Small full-service restaurant manager handling reservations by phone: Hosts and servers get pulled from the floor to answer booking questions, causing slow service and scheduling errors. They need bookings handled consistently without tying up staff.
• Operator of a few locations or a small franchise: Keeping phone handling consistent across sites and reconciling orders across different POS/delivery platforms is tedious. They want integrations that reduce manual work.
• Delis, pizzerias, or cafes with complex, customizable menus: Frequent modifiers are misheard or mis-entered, leading to wrong orders and waste. They need an agent tuned to their menu that reliably captures customizations.
• Single-owner or very small-staff venue needing 24/7 coverage: They can’t staff late nights or weekends and miss after-hours orders/inquiries. They want always-on call coverage with visibility into recovered orders.

How would they acquire their first 10, 50, and 100 customers

• First 10: Founder-led outreach to nearby independents with live demos and 2–4 week low-cost/free pilots, plus hands-on integrations and tuning to prove recovered revenue and secure testimonials.
• First 50: Codify a 1‑day onboarding playbook for top POS/delivery stacks, hire 1–2 regional sales/onboarding reps, and use targeted local ads and email anchored on early pilot case studies.
• First 100: Stand up reseller/referral channels with POS providers/integrators and delivery platforms, add self-serve signup for simple menus and an ROI calculator, and scale inside sales with packaged pricing and SLAs for small multi-location groups.

What is the rough total addressable market

Top-down context:

The U.S. restaurant industry comprises more than 1 million restaurant and foodservice outlets, and 7 in 10 restaurants are single‑unit (independent) operations (NRA press, NRA national stats).

Bottom-up calculation:

Focus on U.S. independents with meaningful phone volume: assume ~40% of ~700k single‑unit restaurants (~280k locations) are strong candidates. At $150–$250 per location per month ($1,800–$3,000 annually), TAM is roughly $0.5B–$0.8B (280k × $1,800–$3,000). Canada and small chains would add upside.

Assumptions:

• ~40% of independent restaurants have enough phone orders/reservations to consider a voice agent.
• Average price point of $150–$250 per location per month for always-on phone handling with integrations.
• Estimate focuses on U.S. independents; adding Canada and small multi-unit operators increases TAM.

Who are some of their notable competitors

• ConverseNow: Voice AI for restaurants, known for automating ordering over phone and drive‑thru for QSR and fast casual brands.
• Kea: AI phone ordering for restaurants (notably pizza and QSR) that answers calls and enters orders into POS systems.
• SoundHound for Restaurants: Voice AI assistants for restaurants, including phone and drive‑thru ordering and call routing.
• Slang.ai: AI phone assistant for SMBs and hospitality that handles inbound calls, FAQs, and routing; used by restaurants.
• PolyAI: Enterprise voice assistants for customer service; deployments include hospitality and restaurant use cases.