Chapel Hill’s Virnika Brings AI To Restaurant Phone Orders

On this week’s Friday Nooner, Joe and Pete spent a bit of time recapping Grep-a-palooza 3 (with special acknowledgment of all our volunteers) before delving into breakfast routines. In the end it was established that despite a regular regimen of plant-based breakfast smoothies and Saturday-morning Eggo waffles, Pete is not, in fact, a professional athlete.

Once that was determined, Charles Douthitt joined in from the green room-slash-mythical nap studio downstairs. Charles is the Co-Founder and CEO of Chapel Hill-based Virnika, which is using an AI-powered call system to improve the restaurant ordering process. The startup, which received an investment from our sister company Primordial earlier this year and was the subject of a GrepBeat feature, is taking some of the weight off restaurant owners’ shoulders by providing a seamless way to handle high demand—without burdening employees.

To hear more about Virnika’s approach as it nears the launch of its beta customers, watch the full episode on LinkedIn here or on Facebook here.