86 Repairs

86 Repairs is a restaurant technology company that provides repair and maintenance (R&M) management for restaurants and other commercial kitchen operators. Its offering combines software with human support: a self-service platform for operators who want to manage R&M internally, and a full-service option in which 86 Repairs' team manages repairs end to end. Core modules cover repair management (24/7/365 support for frontline staff, custom troubleshooting workflows, automatic warranty checks, vendor dispatch), preventative maintenance scheduling and documentation, asset management with on-site equipment inventories built without customer data entry, vendor management and performance analytics, invoice assurance with line-by-line exception flags, cost management and spend forecasting, and IT support including backup internet.

The company positions its vendor approach as operator-aligned rather than marketplace-aligned: restaurants keep unlimited vendor choice, can continue using existing service providers, and pay no markups or extra fees on invoices, while gaining access to vendor performance data to evaluate alternatives. Aggregated repair data is used to generate insights into which equipment fails, expected repair costs, and parts and labor pricing, and is also published in an annual State of Repairs report. The company states its workflows reduce customer R&M costs by an average of 18.1% per year, and its 2022 funding announcement cited customers seeing a 7.2x annual return on investment.

86 Repairs frames the market opportunity around industry-wide R&M spend of roughly $28 billion per year and $46 billion of revenue lost annually to equipment downtime, compounded by hospitality labor shortages, retiring skilled-trades workers and longer supply-chain lead times.

Founding story

86 Repairs was co-founded by Joe Gallagher and Daniel Estrada, described as established entrepreneurs, and launched in 2018 to address the cost and time burden of restaurant equipment repair and maintenance. Much of the team has prior restaurant industry experience in roles ranging from barback and barista to chef and cheesemonger. The company name comes from restaurant-industry slang dating to the 1930s, in which "86" means an item is out or has been taken off the menu.

Business model

86 Repairs sells a subscription service to restaurant operators, offered either as self-service software or as an outsourced, full-service R&M management engagement with optional add-on modules such as preventative maintenance, invoice assurance and IT support. The company states it does not mark up vendor invoices or charge extra fees on repair work.

Subscription-based service fees paid by restaurant operators, with no markups or added fees on vendor repair invoices.

Traction

Launched in 2018; by the 2021 seed announcement it had partnered with more than 700 restaurant locations and reported aggregate customer savings of $1,775,506, with 93% growth in 2020. By July 2022 it managed R&M for more than 2,000 restaurant operators in the U.S. and Canada and reported nearly 3x year-over-year revenue growth. The company cites average annual R&M cost savings of 18.1% and a 7.2x annual customer return on investment.

Latest developments

In July 2022 86 Repairs announced a $15.2 million Series A led by Storm Ventures, with participation from Savory Fund (its first technology investment), Lightbank, TDF Ventures, Gordon Food Service, Cleveland Avenue, MATH Venture Partners and Tamarind Hill, earmarked for product innovation and market expansion following nearly 3x year-over-year revenue growth. The company's current product set includes a self-service R&M management platform with AI-driven vendor and equipment analytics alongside its full-service managed offering.