Fundraising Fox
Pardon
Techstars '24Istanbul, TR · Founded 2021 · 18 employees on LinkedIn · 1 known investors
Find your way into Pardon
Istanbul-based Pardon operates a QR-code smart menu app for restaurants, hotels and beach venues with personalized recommendations.
Also known as Pardon Mobil Teknoloji Hizmetleri A.Ş. · Pardon: Smart Menu&Restaurants
Founders & leadership
Pardon was founded in 2021 by Gokhan Cam.
Investors · 1
How we know: the Techstars portfolio · open dataset · Top 3000 Accelerator Startups (no YC) 2026-08 · Not right? Tell us
Company profile
researched Sep 2026Pardon is a mobile platform operated by Pardon Mobil Teknoloji Hizmetleri Anonim Şirketi of Istanbul, Türkiye. Consumers use the app to reach a venue's digital menu by scanning a QR code at restaurants, cafes, hotels and beach establishments, or to browse menus directly in the app. The product is positioned around personalization: users receive venue and product recommendations based on stated preferences such as vegan, vegetarian, Far Eastern cuisine or kebab, and can filter and sort venues on a map by category including restaurant, nightclub or hotel. The company describes the service as an artificial-intelligence-powered personalized menu and venue recommendation platform.
Beyond menu browsing, the app supports in-venue transactions and service requests. Diners can place orders from the table, attach special requests to the chef in a notes field, view photos or preparation details of a product, call a waiter, request the bill, and pay by online credit card or an "add to bill"/"add to account" option. Previous orders can be repeated from an order history section, and users can access current menus and price lists. Discounts and campaigns are offered at partner (contracted) businesses. Businesses can apply to join through a form on the company's website.
The app is distributed on Google Play and the Apple App Store, is free to download, and is available in English plus ten additional languages on iOS. Release notes through 2022-2024 document iterative work on map-based venue discovery, QR reading (gallery photo selection, camera zoom, flash), cart editing, login flow, location and camera permission screens, and general performance, stability and security improvements.
Business model
Pardon provides a QR-based digital menu and ordering layer to hospitality venues while offering the consumer app free of charge; venues sign up as contracted/partner businesses through an application form on the company's website and can offer discounts and campaigns to app users, and the app processes table orders and online card payments.
Traction
The Google Play listing reports more than 10,000 downloads. The Apple App Store listing shows a 5.0 rating from a single rating. The app has shipped frequent releases, reaching version 3.4.5 on 2024-03-05.
Latest developments
Version 3.4.5 was released on 2024-03-05 with bug fixes and improvements, and the Google Play listing was updated 2024-03-04. Late-2023 releases added a map-based landing feature letting users see only venues matching a chosen category such as vegan or vegetarian.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography
Market position
Pardon describes itself as the world's first personalized, AI-powered menu and venue recommendation platform, differentiating from other menu applications by tailoring the smart menu to individual user preferences. Turkish daily Hürriyet has been quoted by the company as saying that requesting a menu, placing an order and waiting for a waiter to pay the bill in a restaurant or cafe will become a thing of the past.
Technology
The platform combines QR-code scanning with a mobile app front end for menu browsing, ordering and payment. Recommendations and venue listings are described as artificial-intelligence-driven and personalized to user preferences, with map-based discovery and an advanced filtering system for cuisine type, venue type and mood. The app supports online credit card payment and an add-to-bill option. The iOS build is approximately 37 MB and runs on iPhone and iPad. The developer states that data is encrypted in transit, that no data is shared with third parties, that users can request data deletion, and that the app may collect personal info, app activity and two other data types.
Go-to-market
Consumer distribution through Google Play and the Apple App Store, promotion via Instagram (@pardon_app) and the company website, and a self-serve business application form on pardon-app.com for venues wishing to join the network.
Two sides: diners looking for menus, venue discovery and table-side ordering and payment; and hospitality operators including restaurants, cafes, bars, hotels, nightclubs and beach establishments that join as contracted businesses.
Geography
Operated from Istanbul (Europe side), Türkiye, with the developer address listed at Katip Mustafa Çelebi Mahallesi No:55-6, 34433 Istanbul. App store listings reference Türkiye-focused content and the app is offered in English plus ten additional languages on iOS.
Compiled by commissioned research from 6 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Timeline · 2
launches, deals, and filingsLatest listed iOS release, containing bug fixes and improvements; the Google Play listing was updated 2024-03-04.
Release 3.4.1 introduced a landing feature that lets users find Pardon venues on a map and filter to show only desired categories such as restaurant, vegan or vegetarian.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
In the news
▸Research sources · 6
primary sources listed
- Pardon: Smart Menu&Restaurants - Apps on Google Playplay.google.com · web
6 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Pardon do?
- Istanbul-based Pardon operates a QR-code smart menu app for restaurants, hotels and beach venues with personalized recommendations.
- Who founded Pardon?
- Pardon was founded by Gokhan Cam in 2021.
- Who are Pardon's investors?
- Pardon's investors include Techstars.
- Where is Pardon headquartered?
- Pardon is headquartered in Istanbul, TR.