On a Tuesday afternoon in Melbourne, Pan Koutlakis is explaining why his nine-year-old restaurant platform just became worth more than $200 million. The answer, it turns out, has less to do with Australia—where EatClub has been quietly filling empty tables since 2017—and everything to do with London.
"We thought the UK would be receptive," Koutlakis says, perhaps with more understatement than the numbers warrant. "We didn't expect this."
EatClub announced February 23 it had raised $27 million in Series B funding, led by existing investor Marbruck and joined by Equity Venture Partners and Co:Act Capital, according to the Australian Financial Review. The Melbourne-based company's valuation has roughly tripled in nine months—jumping from somewhere between $75 million and $100 million during its May 2025 Series A (which brought in A$18.2 million from Co:Act Capital, Gandel Invest, and others) to north of $200 million today.
The catalyst? A UK market that appears hungry for what EatClub is serving.
London Calling, Loudly
Since launching in London last May with 150 venues, EatClub has signed more than 1,000 UK restaurants. Order volumes tripled over the same nine-month stretch. It's the kind of traction that makes investors reach for their checkbooks, particularly in an industry where geographic expansion often stumbles.
The platform now counts over 5,000 venues globally—north of 4,000 across Australian cities including Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Perth, plus the rapidly growing UK footprint. Two million customers have signed up, though EatClub doesn't break out how many are actively booking tables.
What they're booking into is a model that flips conventional restaurant economics. Rather than charging diners more during peak hours—a concept that still makes American consumers bristle, with nearly two-thirds reacting negatively to dynamic pricing, according to recent sentiment research—EatClub offers discounts of up to 50 percent off the total bill during slower periods. Including alcohol, which matters.
The mechanics involve a proprietary digital prepaid Mastercard that lives in Apple and Google Wallet and automatically applies discounts at checkout. Restaurants get fuller dining rooms when they'd otherwise be half-empty. Diners get deals. EatClub takes a cut. Everyone, in theory, wins.
The Marco Factor
Koutlakis founded the company in 2017 under the name Dinnerdeal before rebranding and bringing on celebrity chef Marco Pierre White as an early investor and, crucially, a public advocate. White's name carries weight in both Australia and the UK, and his willingness to champion the concept of restaurant dynamic pricing—framed carefully as filling gaps rather than gouging customers—has given the model a credibility boost.
EatClub describes itself as a "customer engagement platform" rather than just another discount app, a positioning that matters when courting restaurateurs wary of conditioning diners to never pay full price. The company says its AI-powered tools help operators forecast revenue and optimize when to push offers throughout the day, turning what could be a blunt instrument into something resembling precision.
Whether that distinction holds up as the platform scales remains to be seen.
What the Money Buys
The fresh capital will fund expansion beyond London—Manchester is on the list, along with unnamed international markets that EatClub isn't ready to discuss publicly. The company also plans to scale "EatClub Earn," a loyalty program launched this past December that rewards diners with credits for spending at partner retailers using the platform's digital card. It's an attempt to broaden revenue streams beyond the core restaurant business, though still early days.
With 126 employees spread across offices in Melbourne, Brisbane, and Sydney, EatClub is now testing whether what worked in Australia can translate to European markets where hospitality operators face remarkably similar challenges: high fixed costs, thin margins, and empty chairs during off-peak hours.
The Series B puts EatClub in rarefied air for an Australian food-tech company, but the real test lies ahead. Tripling your valuation in nine months buys credibility and runway. Sustaining growth in competitive markets like the UK—where established players and fickle consumer habits can humble even well-funded startups—requires execution at a different level entirely.
For now, though, Koutlakis and his investors are betting that British diners, much like their Australian counterparts, will show up for a deal. Even on a Tuesday.
