Nory opens New York base to power AI for US eateries

Nory, an Irish-founded restaurant operations software company, has opened a New York headquarters and set out plans to roll out across the US, as restaurant operators face sustained pressure from labour and food costs.

Based in London and founded in 2021, Nory sells a platform that brings workforce management, inventory, payroll and business intelligence into a single system. It will begin with a group of early US customers and expand nationwide across all 50 states later this year.

The New York office is in downtown Manhattan near the New York Stock Exchange. Founder and Chief Executive Conor Sheridan will relocate to lead the US team.

Margin squeeze

The US restaurant market has grappled with higher input costs and staffing constraints. Nory cited industry research showing that nearly nine in ten operators reported higher labour costs in 2024, while more than four in five saw rising food costs. The same research found that 42% said their restaurant was not profitable last year.

Those pressures have sharpened demand for tools that forecast demand, manage staffing and reduce waste. Hospitality has also become a test case in the wider debate over whether artificial intelligence can raise productivity in service-heavy industries.

Nory said its software helps restaurant groups make faster operational decisions. The system draws on historical sales and operational data and provides real-time reporting and recommendations. It also automates routine back-office tasks such as rota planning, along with parts of procurement and financial administration.

Nory noted that restaurant teams can save more than 100 hours of administrative work per site each month. It also says customers typically cut operating costs by close to 20% and increase core net profits by as much as 50%.

Early customers

Nory's initial US customers include Black Sheep Coffee, Roasting Plant Coffee, With Love, Always and Singas Pizza, part of OM Hospitality. It has also worked with Dave's Hot Chicken in the UK and Ireland.

Early US clients have reported halving food waste, labour savings of 8% to 20%, and a 50% increase in net profit, Nory said.

In the UK and Ireland, Nory has built a customer base among multi-site operators. It lists groups such as Jamie Oliver Group, Boston Tea Party, Colicci and Azzurri Group among its partners.

Funding and growth

Nory has raised a total of USD $63 million, including a USD $37 million Series B round led by Kinnevik. It moved from Series A to Series B in nine months, citing increased adoption in the UK and Ireland and preparations for international expansion.

Restaurant operations software is a crowded market, with point-of-sale systems, labour scheduling tools and inventory products competing for budget. Nory's pitch is consolidation into a single platform, which it says reduces duplication and cuts the time spent moving data between systems.

Sheridan previously co-founded Mad Egg, a restaurant group in Ireland. Nory's leadership has framed its product around the day-to-day realities of running restaurants, where operators balance staffing levels, demand swings and volatile input costs.

"US restaurant operators are under intense pressure from rising costs and staffing complexity, so we're giving them a system that doesn't just report on what happened; it helps them plan what's next," Sheridan said.

"Our focus in the US is on delivering practical AI that improves day-to-day decision-making and helps restaurants run more resilient, profitable businesses," he added.

One existing customer described the shift from manual processes and spreadsheets to a single software environment.

"If you're building fast, you need a partner that can move equally as fast. The support from Nory has been world-class since we built the whole back of house with their team from day one. Moving from paper, pen, and Excel onto the platform gave us real visibility into how the company is performing, and what changes we needed to implement to scale the business," said Neil Remedios, Operations Lead, Dave's Hot Chicken UK&I.

"The simple and intuitive dashboard is a massive shift from previous legacy systems we've partnered with," Remedios added.

Nory said it will continue investing in AI assistants, proprietary algorithms and customer deployment as it expands internationally.