Otago’s First Table wins Rising Star

Queenstown-based First Table, the platform revolutionising the global restaurant industry, has been named the regional Rising Star-One to Watch at an event in Dunedin last week.
  
First Table rewards diners making early-bird bookings with a 50% discount off the total food bill from member restaurants.
  
It was founded by Queenstown man Mat Weir to break the age-old problem in the hospitality industry of slow starts to evenings. The platform has doubled in size year-on-year since launching.
  
The Rising Stars award is part of Deloitte’s international Fast 50 competition which celebrates innovation and entrepreneurship in high-growth companies. They are awarded to companies with the most growth potential.
  
“We are absolutely over-the-moon with this award,” Weir says. “The Rising Stars alumni include great Kiwi businesses such as CHIA and Flick Electric, so it’s an honour to join them.
  
“This award is a recognition of the huge effort and extremely long hours put in by First Table across the world over the past four years. Inventing a totally new kind of business model from scratch is never easy, but the thousands of happy users and awards like this make it all worthwhile.”
  
Since it was founded by Weir in Queenstown in September 2014, First Table has grown throughout New Zealand and around the world, with a team of 12 and counting.
  
“Much of our recent growth has come from expanding overseas,” Weir says.
  
“Our export earnings have gone from 18% last year to 30% this financial year, and we’re planning to continue our international expansion to reach 85% of all revenue coming from overseas markets in the next five years.”
  
First Table operates in 50 cities across New Zealand, Australia, the UK, Ireland, and Indonesia with more than 900 restaurants in the network. It plans to open operations in North America next.
  
Over the past four years, more than 230,000 diners have used the service to discover the best restaurants in their area, without breaking the bank.
  
“Like every entrepreneur, I had big aspirations for First Table when I launched it,” Weir says.  
  
“Today, it’s extremely satisfying to look back on the growth we’ve had and the team we’ve built. This Rising Stars award is the cherry on top.”

Photo: Cameron Steele and Jessie Monkley from First Table with the Rising Star-One to Watch award.