The Ion taps John Reale for startup and investor role

new hire

Houston startup and investment leader John "JR" Reale has a new role at the Ion. Photo courtesy Rice Alliance.

The Ion has named John "JR" Reale as its director for startups and investor engagement.

In his new role, Reale, a longtime leader in Houston’s startup ecosystem, will work to strengthen the innovation district's founder and investor network.

"Here’s what I’ve come to believe: the Ion is not just a building, not just a real estate play, and not just another innovation district. COVID, remote work, and shifting market dynamics changed the rules. Key ingredients like co-working, events, and community, while impactful, are no longer enough on their own," Reale shared on a LinkedIn post announcing the move. "What’s needed are advantages ... We need to intentionally design a system that repeatedly delivers advantages so founders can pull forward their visions."

Reale previously served as executive in residence and venture partner at TMC Venture Fund and co-founded Station Houston. He also serves as managing director of Integr8d Capital. He's an investor and serves on the board of directors for a number of venture-backed companies, including Cart.com, Lionguard and others.

The Ion will host "Today Is Day One – A conversation with John (JR) Reale" to welcome Reale to the role on Tuesday, Oct. 21. Reale will be joined at the event by Heath Butler, partner at Mercury, to discuss their thoughts on shaping Houston's founders ecosystem, as well as the Ion’s Founder Advantage Platform.

"On top of this connected architecture, we will build product. That product will be the Founder Advantage Platform to remove friction, compress time, and compound outcomes," Reale continued on LinkedIn. "This is the system that will drive repeatable experiences, and naturally, make these journeys so much more fun."

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If you feel like it's hard to find venture capitalists in Houston, you wouldn't be wrong, according to this Houston investor. Photo via Getty Images

Houston investor outlines how rare VCs are in Houston — and how to find them

guest column

As a venture capitalist and former startup founder living in Houston, I get asked a lot about the best way to find and connect with a venture capitalist in Houston. My usual advice is to start with a list, and reach out to everyone on that list. But no one has a comprehensive list. In fact, VCs are such a quiet bunch that I’ve yet to meet someone who personally knows everyone on this proverbial list.

So, I got together with a couple of VC friends of mine, and we put together our own Houston venture capitalist list.

There are, by our count, 11 active venture capital funds headquartered in Houston of any size and type, and outside of corporate venture capital and angel investors, there are 30 total venture capitalists running funds.

Houston has always been quite thin on the VC fund front. I’ve jokingly introduced myself for a while as “one of the 13 venture capitalists in Houston.”

Let’s put this scale in some brutal perspective. With 7.2 million people in the Greater Houston Metro Area, the odds of finding a partner level active venture capitalist in Houston is about 1 in 240,000, if you take a most expanded definition of venture capitalist that might come down to 1 in 100,000. We’re the fifth largest metropolitan area in the country with a tremendous economic engine; there is a ton of capital in Houston, but it’s residing in things like institutional fixed income and equities, real estate, wealth management, corporate, private equity, family office, energy and infrastructure Basically, mostly everywhere but in venture capital funds for tech startups.

By comparison, there are almost as many Fortune 500 CEOs in Houston — 24, by our count — as venture capitalists and fewer venture capitalists than Fortune 1000 CEOs, of which there are 43. That means running into a VC in the checkout line at HEB is about as rare as running into the CEO of CenterPoint, ConocoPhillips, or Academy. In fact, as there are 115 cities in the Greater Houston area, you are three times more likely to be a mayor in Greater Houston Area than a partner at an investor at a VC firm, and more likely to be a college or university president. While we’re at it, you’re 400 times more likely to be a lawyer, 250 times more likely to be a CPA, and over 650 times more likely to be a medical doctor.

Our 30 venture capitalists in the Greater Houston Area are spread across 20 firms and all major venture sectors and stages. Venture capitalist is defined for this list as a full time managing director or partner-level investment professional actively running a venture capital fund with limited partners, currently investing in new venture capital deals from their fund from seed to growth stage, and residing in the Greater Houston Metro area.

To get to 31 we added in a couple of people running venture set asides for PE funds, and a number who work from Houston for funds with no office here. We excluded CVCs, as the decision making is more corporate than individual and rarely includes the committed fund and carried interest structure that defines venture capital, and excluded professionals at angel networks, accelerators, and seed funds that provide investment, but don’t manage conventional venture capital funds, as well as PE funds that do the occasional venture deal. We might be able to triple the number if we include venture capitalists at any professional level, and add in those professionals at PE and angel and seed funds, and corporate venture capital teams who are actively investing. But we’ll get to those other sources of funding in the next list.

The 11 venture capital funds headquartered in Houston are: Mercury, Energy Transition Ventures (my fund), Montrose Lane (formerly called Cottonwood), Texas Medical Center Venture Fund, Artemis, New Climate Ventures, Fitz Gate Ventures, Curate Capital, Knightsgate Ventures, Amplo Ventures,and First Bight Ventures.

Another half a dozen firms have a partner level venture capital investor here, but are headquartered elsewhere: Energy Innovation Capital, Decarbonization Partners, 1984 Ventures, Altitude Ventures, Ascension Ventures, Moneta Ventures, and MKB & Co. Two others, CSL Ventures and SCF Partners, are local private equity funds with a venture capital partner in Houston and a dedicated allocation from a PE fund.

Culling these for partner or managing director level currently in Houston, in alphabetical order by first name, LinkedIn profile and all.

We may have missed a couple of VCs hiding in plain sight, as venture capital is a pretty dynamic business.

VCs are just rare. And yes, perhaps more rare in Houston than in California. Something less than 1 in 100 VCs in the country live in Houston. Across the US there are somewhere around 1,000 to 2,000 active venture capital firms, and maybe another 1,000 to 2,000 active US based CVCs — so, plus or minus maybe at most 4,000 to 5,000 currently active partner level venture capitalists in the country excluding CVC professionals (active VCs and VC funds are really hard to count).

Perhaps in the most stunning statistic, the 7,386 elected state legislators in the US today outnumber the total number of American venture capitalists. Luckily for startup founders, the venture capitalists are more likely to return your phone call.

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Neal Dikeman is a venture capitalist and seven-time startup co-founder investing out of Energy Transition Ventures. He’s currently hosting the Venture Capital for First Time Founders Series at the Ion, where ETV is headquartered.

The 2022 Houston Innovation Awards revealed its big winners across 11 categories. Photos courtesy

InnovationMap, HX reveal winners from 2022 Houston Innovation Awards Gala

and the winners are...

That's a wrap on the Houston Innovation Awards Gala. InnovationMap and Houston Exponential announced the winners of the 2022 awards that celebrated Houston's booming innovation ecosystem, and 11 startups and individuals walked away with the awards.

The event, held November 9 at the Ion, honored all 43 finalists as well as Trailblazer Award recipient, Blair Garrou, managing director and founder of Houston-based venture capital firm Mercury. Click here to read about all the finalists.

Eight judges evaluated over 150 companies and individuals across 11 categories for the 2022 Houston Innovation Awards. This year's judges included Carolyn Rodz, founder and CEO of Hello Alice; Wogbe Ofori, founder of Wrx Companies; Scott Gale, executive director of Halliburton Labs; Ashley Danna, senior manager of regional economic development of Greater Houston Partnership; Kelly McCormick, professor at the University of Houston; Paul Cherukuri, vice president of innovation at Rice University; Lawson Gow, CEO of Houston Exponential; and Natalie Harms, editor of InnovationMap.

Without further adieu, here the winners from the 2022 Houston Innovation Awards.

BIPOC-Founded Business: Steradian Technologies

The winner for the BIPOC-Founded Business category, honoring an innovative company founded or co-founded by BIPOC representation, is: Steradian Technologies, a health tech startup that uses deep-photonics technology to diagnose respiratory diseases in seconds, all for the price of a latte.

Female-Founded Business: Sesh Coworking

The winner for the Female-Founded Business category, honoring an innovative company founded or co-founded by a woman, is: Sesh Coworking, a women and genderqueer inclusive coworking and community.

Hardtech Business: Fluence Analytics

The winner for the Hardtech Business category, honoring an innovative company developing and commercializing a physical technology across life science, energy, space, and beyond, is: Fluence Analytics, real-time analytics solution that optimizes processes and provides novel insights into material properties that enable customers to increase yields, improve product quality, and reduce costs.

B2B Software Business: Liongard

The winner for the B2B Software Business category, honoring an innovative company developing and programming a digital solution to impact the business sector, is: Liongard — software company that unlocks the intelligence hidden deep within IT systems to give MSPs an operational advantage that delivers both higher profits and an exceptional customer experience.

Green Impact Business: Cemvita Factory

The winner for the Green Impact Business category, honoring an innovative company providing a solution within renewables, climatetech, clean energy, alternative materials, and beyond, is: Cemvita Factory, a biotech company that uses a sustainable, economical, nature-inspired approach to empower companies with sustainable products and environmental technologies to decrease their carbon footprint, reverse climate change, and create a brighter future for the planet.

Smart City Business: Sensytec

The winner for the Smart City Business category, honoring an innovative company providing a tech solution within transportation, infrastructure, data, and beyond, is: Sensytec, an IoT Solutions platform that expedites and enhances concrete construction operations.

New to Hou Business: Venus Aerospace

The winner for the New to Hou Business category, honoring an innovative company, accelerator, or investor that has relocated its primary operations to Houston within the past three years, is: Venus Aerospace, the creator of a hypersonic spaceplane capable of one-hour global travel.

DEI Champion: Loretta Williams Gurnell

The winner for the DEI Champion category, honoring an individual who is leading impactful diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and progress within Houston and their organization, is: Loretta Williams Gurnell, founder of SUPERGirls SHINE Foundation.

Mentor of the Year: Kara Branch

The winner for the Mentor of the Year category, honoring an individual who dedicates their time and expertise to guide and support to budding entrepreneurs, is: Kara Branch, founder and CEO of Black Girls Do Engineer Corp. and developer and manager at Intel Corp.

Investor of the Year: John "JR" Reale

The winner for the Investor of the Year category, honoring an individual who is leading venture capital or angel investing, is: John (JR) Reale, managing director of Integr8d Capital and venture lead of the Texas Medical Center Venture Fund

People's Choice (Startup of the Year): Milkify

The winner for the People's Choice: Startup of the Year category, selected via an interactive voting portal during of the event, is: Milkify — creator of patent-pending process to freeze-dry breast milk into a powder that is easy to use and transport and lasts for three years on the shelf.

John "JR" Reale joins the Houston Innovators Podcast again for the second episode in a two-part series discussing Houston innovation, the Texas Medical Center, investment trends, and more. Photo via TMC.edu

Houston's future as a health tech innovation hub shines bright with TMC3, says innovator

houston innovators podcast episode 137

The Texas Medical Center's innovation hub might not look like it did a few years ago. It's evolved — changed things that needed changing and expanded in spaces that needed more opportunities, says John "JR" Reale.

TMC Innovation — home to a health tech accelerator, biobridges with international partners, a robotics lab, a biodesign program, an investment fund, and more — was established in 2014 has expanded to serve the community as needed.

"There is a culture of experimentation and learning here that's really cool," Reale says. "Since I've been working with the team, I think we've experimented without the fear of failure and just kept working on and evolving the model to figure out how we could be the best partner we could be for founders."

Reale recently joined the Houston Innovators Podcast in a two-part series of interviews. The first part, which ran last week, covered Reale's innovation journey and his work as managing director of Integr8d Capital. In this week's episode, Reale dons his executive in residence at Texas Medical Center Innovation hat to discuss the future of health care innovation at the TMC.

"Since the fall of 2019, I've been leading the TMC Venture Fund, which is I think just an awesome platform to partner with great founders who have a vision for the future of health care," Reale says. "TMC provides such a great partnership and opportunity for health care innovators to access the Texas Medical Center and to build their business."

The fund was originally launched in 2017 to fill a gap in capital that existed for health tech startups — particularly the ones going through the accelerator program. The fund recently doubled in size to $50 million, a testament that the model is working, Reale says.

"When you look TMC Venture Fund as an organization and how we advance our broader business objectives and mission —I think we're doing that," he says, noting the example of Volumetric, which went through the TMC and was acquired for around $400 million last fall.

Of course, the big story at TMC is the new 37-acre research campus project, called TMC3. The first of the handful of buildings is expected to deliver next year, and the impact will be significant in the years following.

"(TMC3) is a big piece of what's going to unlock the opportunity to commercialize research more broadly on our campus," Reale says. "That's what's so exciting — the work that is happening improves people's lives."

Reale shares more about the impact he expects from TMC3 on the podcast episode, as well as what he's working on within the fund. Listen to the first interview below — or wherever you stream your podcasts — and subscribe for weekly episodes.


John "JR" Reale joins the Houston Innovators Podcast for a two-part series of interviews discussing Houston innovation, the Texas Medical Center, investment trends, and more. Photo via TMC.edu

Longtime Houston innovator talks investment trends and ecosystem evolution

houston innovators podcast episode 136

Over the years, John "JR" Reale may have transitioned to various roles within the Houston innovation ecosystem, but the people he was working with stayed the same.

"My focus is always on partnering with founders — I just get to do it with two amazing hats," Reale says on this week's episode of the Houston Innovators Podcast.

Those two hats are as executive in residence at Texas Medical Center Innovation and as managing director of Integr8d Capital, an early-stage fundless venture capital firm that invests with intentionality. Reale joined the podcast for a special two-part series. The first episode is out now and focuses on his career in innovation and investment. The second part, which comes out next week, covers health tech innovation and his work with Texas Medical Center.

Most people might know Reale as one of the co-founders of Station Houston, a hub for tech innovation and entrepreneurship that launched in 2015 and dissolved into a few entities like The Ion and Capital Factory in 2018. Reale says on the show that Station's success came at a crucial time for Houston.

"Our big insight was ultimately around two things. One, we had a great empathy about how lonely and challenging it is being a founder. It was about building an authentic community where folks wanted to be," Reale says on the show. "Later in 2016 and 2017, we had this idea of separating space for the services and the things that founders need — especially in a big city like Houston."

Reale says Station was focused on the founders and providing a centralized location for support — something that sprawling Houston didn't have before.

"Our mission was really simple," he says, "it was to serve entrepreneurs. We knew who we wanted to serve, and we knew it meant a lot of different things."

Around the time of Station, Mayor Sylvester Turner's office asked Reale to join a task force with Amanda Edwards and several other impactful parties. The mission there was to get everyone on the same page and not only see the city's potential for innovation, but work on developing it.

"We went through a journey as a task force," Reale says. "A lot of it was about learning together. One of the big insights were about meeting people where they were. You're bringing all different pockets of the community together, and it's not about dictating what people have to do."

When it comes to pointing to a turning point in Houston, Reale doesn't mince words.

"One of the most important moments for Houston was when we got kicked in the teeth with the Amazon HQ2 bid," he says. "Amazon came back with the shortlist of the 20 cities in North America — and Houston isn't on it. I remember being excited. It was arguably the most innovative company in the world saying 'no thank you.'"

Rather than feel defeated or disappointed, Reale says he was excited about the rejection. It was an opportunity to spur more work that needed to be done.

"That was the gut punch that folks needed to realize," he says. "Moments like that cause real reflection. Failure like that forces you to ask a different set of questions."

The pandemic has meant for another, though very different, turning point and opportunity — especially when it comes to investment.

"Over the last few years we've seen a positive impact of the pandemic — it's changed the barriers to capital coming into different geographies, and I think that's sustainable. We've created new norms and behaviors of where capital will go," he says.

There's still room to grow and opportunities to come to fruition — especially within the early-stage investment community, Reale says.

"I'd like to see more funds launch here with very intentional strategies — particularly seed and early-stage work. You usually find those to be more geographically close," he says. "That's an opportunity. And I'd like to see more awesome operators turned investors."

Reale shares more about Integr8d Capital and what he's working on now on the podcast episode, as well as in next week's episode. Listen to the first interview below — or wherever you stream your podcasts — and subscribe for weekly episodes.


Health care innovators joined Houston Methodist and Texas A&M University's ENMED program to discuss women in health care innovation and venture capital investment. Photo courtesy of Houston Methodist

Overheard: Houston experts discuss women in med tech, insight from investors, and more

Eavesdropping in Houston

Houston's health innovation community is making strides every day toward greater quality of care and technology adoption — but what challenges is the industry facing these days?

Through a partnership between Houston Methodist and Texas A&M University's ENMED program at Houston Tech Rodeo, health innovators weighed in on topics surrounding the industry, including biases and investment opportunities.

Missed the conversation? Here are seven key moments from the panels that took place at A&M's new ENMED building in the Texas Medical Center on Thursday, March 3.

“When I look at learning and understanding the priorities — how to take care of patients and also enable those who are doing that work, that’s part of understanding the culture and learning because in the 40 years that I’ve been in the industry, it’s never been the same. There are always things that continue to present challenges from unexpected places.”

​— Ayse McCracken, founder of Ignite Healthcare Network, says on the "Four Fierce Females" panel, referencing the rate of tech disruption and how new technologies, medicine, etc. can change the health care industry and practitioners need to find ways to keep up and stay ahead of the curve.

“Whenever you experience biases, what can you do? You can lean into the fact that we are in a position to help educate and make a change. And that’s going to look different for every one of us, but lean into that instead of feeling down by it.”

— Samantha Lewis, principal at Mercury Fund, says on the "Four Fierce Females" panel, explaining that women across industries should lean into being a change agent when met with bias in the workplace.

“The reason I feel so passionate is (I’m always thinking,) ‘What more can we be doing for our community? What’s working well and what’s not working well,' so I can take that back and make positive changes in our organization.”

— Michelle Stansbury, vice president of innovation and IT applications at Houston Methodist, says on the "Four Fierce Females" panel, explaining that when she's on the other side of the equation as a patient, she really considers her experience and how it could be better.

“Every time you raise money you’re telling a story. You have to figure out what adds value to that story. … I think health care is tricky too because people getting into it aren’t necessarily aware of how complex it is.”

— Dan Watkins, venture partner and co-founder at Mercury Fund, says on the "Where’s My Money At?" investor panel, adding how important it is to investors that founders have specific information — market potential, road map, etc. — when pitching to VCs.

“As a health care startup founder and CEO, you have to wear so many different hats — especially if you’re talking about diagnostics and medical devices. It starts in the science, moves to engineering, and then winds up being commercial. To expect someone to be an expert at all those fields is very difficult.”

— Tim Marx, venture partner at Baird Capital, says on the "Where’s My Money At?" investor panel, adding that, “That’s why we look for the CEOs who really understand where they are, where they’re going, and what they need.”

“One of the things we really appreciate when we engage with founders, it’s not about ‘here’s why my company is great.’ It’s more about understanding the questions your business needs to answer. … If you think about that, that’s what we want to fund. We want to invest in the vision, opportunity, and the people, but we want to fund the — the roadmap — that usually comes with being thoughtful about the questions you’re trying to answer.”

— John Reale, venture lead at TMC Venture Fund, says on the "Where’s My Money At?" investor panel, adding "That's where we get energized."

“The idea to attract talent that’s already built great companies across the US and the world to come here, hire here, and grow here — that’s starting to actually pay off. One of the things that’s big about Houston is it’s really gritty — it’s very ‘show me the data and prove it to me first.’ … We’re having those proven points.”

— Emily Reiser, associate director of innovation at the Texas Medical Center , says on the "Where’s My Money At?" investor panel about the work TMC is doing with its accelerator program.

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Houston falls from top 50 in global ranking of 'World's Best Cities'

Rankings & Reports

Houston is no longer one of the top 50 best cities in the world, according to a prestigious annual report by Canada-based real estate and tourism marketing firm Resonance Consultancy.

The newest "World's Best Cities" list dropped Houston from No. 40 last year to No. 58 for 2026.

The experts at Resonance Consultancy annually compare the world's top 100 cities with metropolitan populations of at least 1 million residents or more based on the relative qualities of livability, "lovability," and prosperity. The firm additionally collaborated with AI software company AlphaGeo to determine each city's "exposure to risk, adaptation capacity," and resilience to change.

The No. 1 best city in the world is London, with New York (No. 2), Paris (No. 3), Tokyo (No. 4), and Madrid (No. 5) rounding out the top five in 2026.

Houston at least didn't rank as poorly as it did in 2023, when the city surprisingly plummeted as the 66th best city in the world. In 2022, Houston ranked 42nd on the list.

Despite dropping 18 places, Resonance Consultancy maintains that Houston "keeps defying gravity" and is a "coveted hometown for the best and brightest on earth."

The report cited the Houston metro's ever-growing population, its relatively low median home values ($265,000 in 2024), and its expanding job market as top reasons for why the city shouldn't be overlooked.

"Chevron’s shift of its headquarters from California to Houston, backed by $100 million in renovations, crowns relocations drawn by record 2024 Port Houston throughput of more than four million containers and a projected 71,000 new jobs in 2025," the report said.

The report also draws attention to the city's diversity, spanning from the upcoming grand opening of the long-awaited Ismaili Center, to the transformation of several industrial buildings near Memorial City Mall into a mixed-use development called Greenside.

"West Houston’s Greenside will convert 35,000 square feet of warehouses into a retail, restaurant and community hub around a one-acre park by 2026, while America’s inaugural Ismaili Center remains on schedule for later this year," the report said. "The gathering place for the community and home for programs promoting understanding of Islam and the Ismaili community is another cultural jewel for the country’s most proudly diverse major city."

In Resonance Consultancy's separate list ranking "America's Best Cities," Houston fell out of the top 10 and currently ranks as the 13th best U.S. city.

Elsewhere in Texas, Austin and Dallas also saw major declines in their standings for 2026. Austin plummeted from No. 53 last year to No. 87 for 2026, and Dallas fell from No. 53 to No. 78.

"In this decade of rapid transformation, the world’s cities are confronting challenges head‑on, from climate resilience and aging infrastructure to equitable growth," the report said. "The pandemic, long forgotten but still a sage oracle, exposed foundational weaknesses – from health‑care capacity to housing affordability. Yet, true to their dynamic nature, the leading cities are not merely recovering, but setting the pace, defining new paradigms of innovation, sustainability and everyday livability."

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This article originally appeared on CultureMap.com.

Waymo self-driving robotaxis will launch in Houston in 2026

Coming Soon

Houston just cleared a major lane to the future. Waymo has announced the official launch of its self-driving robotaxi service in the Bayou City, beginning with employee-only operations this fall ahead of a public launch in early 2026.

The full rollout will include three Texas cities, Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio, along with Miami and Orlando, Florida. Currently, the company operates in the San Francisco Bay Area, Phoenix, and Los Angeles, with service available in Austin and Atlanta through Uber.

Before letting its technology loose on a city, Waymo first tests the routes with human drivers. Once each locale is mapped, the cars can begin driving independently. Unique situations are flagged by specialists, and engineers evaluate performance in virtual replicas of each city.

“Waymo’s quickly entering a number of new cities in the U.S. and around the world, and our approach to every new city is consistent,” explained the announcement. “We compare our driving performance against a proven baseline to validate the performance of the Waymo Driver and identify any unique local characteristics.”

The launch puts Waymo ahead of Tesla. Elon Musk’s Austin-based carmaker has made a lot of hullabaloo about autonomy being the future of the company, but has yet to launch its service on a wide scale.

Waymo started testing San Antonio’s roadways in May as part of a multi-city “road trip,” which also included Houston. The company says its measured approach to launches helps alleviate local concern over safety and other issues.

“The future of transportation is accelerating, and we are driving it forward with a commitment to quality and safety,” Waymo wrote. “Our rigorous process of continuous iteration, validation, and local engagement ensures that we put communities first as we expand.”

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This article originally appeared on CultureMap.com.

Shipley Donuts launches AI-powered ordering assistant

fresh tech

Popular Houston-born doughnut chain Shipley Donuts has added a first-of-its-kind AI-powered assistant to its online ordering platform.

The new assistant can create personalized order recommendations based on individual or group preferences, according to a news release from the company. Unlike standard chatbox features, the new assistant makes custom recommendations based on multiple customer factors, including budgetary habits, individual flavor preferences and order size.

"We're not just adding AI for the sake of innovation — we're solving real customer pain points by making ordering more intuitive, personalized and efficient," Kerry Leo, Shipley Vice President of Technology, said in the release.

The system also works for larger events, as it can make individual orders and catering recommendations for corporate events and meetings by suggesting quantities and assortments based on group size, event type and budget.

According to Shipley, nearly 1 in 4 guests have completed orders with the new AI technology since it launched on its website.

“The integration of the AI ordering assistant into our refreshed website represents a significant leap forward in how restaurant brands can leverage technology to enhance the customer experience,” Leo added in the release.

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