NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Slice — the innovative tech platform powering America’s local pizzerias — announced today the first 10 local pizzerias to participate in Slice Accelerate. This announcement comes on the eve of Slice Founder and CEO Ilir Sela’s anticipated presentation at the Goldman Sachs Annual Private Innovative Company Conference, where he will discuss Slice Accelerate and reveal new steps the company is taking to keep the over 14,000 local pizzerias in its network thriving.
Slice will provide this first cohort of shops $15,000 worth of technology and services to strengthen their businesses, helping to make them pandemic-proof and set up for future success by enabling them to compete against big pizza franchises and the predatory practices of third party apps. The 10 shops announced today are the first of 100 shops to be announced as part of this initiative. Local restaurants who participated in a beta version of the program are already seeing significant results: their total sales have increased by over 130% and their digital sales have increased by 330%.
The 10 shops selected to be part of the first cohort include:
- Angelo's Masonville Pizzeria & Ristorante (Mt. Laurel, NJ)
- Baggios Pizza Restaurant (Fort Lee, NJ)
- Bella Napoli Pizzeria (Phoenixville, PA)
- Brooklyn Pizza & Kitchen (Haskell, NJ)
- Italian Touch Restaurant & Pizza (East Windsor, NJ)
- Lg's Pizza & Pasta (Brick, NJ)
- Michaelangelo’s Pizza (Staten Island, NY)
- Rossville Pizza (Staten Island, NY)
- Spinachio Pizza (North Haledon, NJ)
- Stelton Pizza (Piscataway, NJ)
“We are thrilled to announce the first cohort of many in the Slice Accelerate program,” Ilir Sela, Founder and CEO of Slice said, previewing his remarks at tomorrow’s Goldman Sachs Annual Private Innovative Company Conference. “By helping to digitally transform these businesses, we will be setting them up for success during the pandemic and beyond. Slice’s mission is to keep local thriving, and we are here to serve our community of 14,000 independent entrepreneurs with another layer of value, investment, and mentorship to help these shops grow faster and be more profitable.”
In September, Slice launched Slice Accelerate, an ongoing program to help digitally transform neighborhood pizzerias, setting them up during the pandemic and beyond to compete against big pizza franchises and the predatory practices of third party apps -- including surge pricing that significantly diminishes margins, false advertising about pricing and availability, and zero culpability when it comes to customer service. Visit accelerate.slicelife.com for more information or to nominate your neighborhood pizzeria today.
Slice’s underlying mission — keep local thriving — is at the core of all its offerings. This announcement adds to a number of initiatives Slice has launched to help small businesses since the start of the pandemic. Last month, Slice announced that it will be removing it’s already industry-low flat-fee on small orders under $10 as well as eliminating $10 pickup minimums. Since Slice Delivery was announced in May, 1,500 of Slice’s partner shops have signed up for this add-on service, benefiting those shops without in-house delivery while also allowing the pizzeria to set their own delivery pricing. Slice was one of the first to add contact-free delivery and cash-free ordering into its product to keep both restaurant workers and customers safe. And in March, Slice moved quickly to launch Pizza vs. Pandemic with Slice Out Hunger, an initiative that continues to feed front line care workers while providing sizable orders to independent pizzerias, now in all 50 states.
About Slice
Slice transforms independent pizzerias with the specialized technology, marketing, data insights, and shared services they need, all at a low fixed cost per order, to serve today’s digital-minded customers. Enabling these small businesses to thrive against major corporate chains, Slice makes it easy for customers to order from their go-to shops and discover their next favorite. Serial tech entrepreneur Ilir Sela started Slice to solve the digital challenges of his family’s New York City pizzerias. Today, the company partners with over 14,000 pizzerias across 3,000 cities in all 50 states forming the nation’s largest marketplace for authentic pizza.
For more information on Slice’s product and company, visit slicelife.com, and follow Slice on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter.
