Arc

Manage your drive-thru with the precision of a digital channel.
Built by execs from Square and Cash App. Backed by a16z.

[Arc @MeetArc]

Drive-thru AI has to fit the way restaurants actually operate.

- Existing systems.
- Weeks, not months, deployment.
- Clear crew handoff.
- No heavy upfront lift for the store team.

That’s the kind of system we’re building at Arc: https://t.co/wXkfl1QU1U

[Arc @MeetArc]

Fewer than 10% of drive-thru orders include an upsell.

Why?

People don’t like being told no.

Good upsell strategies are too complex to operationalize with conventional ordering.

And crews are judged on order speed, even when the window is usually the bottleneck.

The benchmark: relevant on 80%+ of orders, converting above 20%.

[Arc @MeetArc]

Kiosks revealed the opportunity: consistent, predictable experience, measurable upsell, bigger orders.

The drive-thru is next: https://t.co/wXkfl1QU1U

[michael maclennan @maclennanm]

@FortuneMagazine shared our story this week - this quote captures why Arc is different.

“The previous wave failed for a specific, fixable reason: the players were using 80% good models trying to take out labor. Chapter two, which I think is just starting now, is 99% good models focused on wins for customers, wins for employees, and wins for businesses.”

https://t.co/Mu1lJtHx70

[Arc @MeetArc]

Yesterday, we launched publicly and announced our $10.76M seed round led by @a16z.

The response from the restaurant community made it clear: operators are ready for this.

@FortuneMagazine covered the story behind the launch and what we're building. Worth a read if you work in restaurants, hospitality tech, or AI.

https://t.co/yesJfVhuAv

[Restaurant News @RestaurantNews1]

Founded by former Square and Cash App executives, Arc introduces real-time observability and voice AI to fast-food drive-thrus.
https://t.co/vbAjQB8mBb

[Olivia Moore @omooretweets]

Excited to announce @meetarc's $10.76M seed, led by @a16z!

Arc brings quick service restaurants into the AI era, starting with drive-thru voice agents.

Founders @maclennanm + @alihussaincs shipped products for the real world at Block - and Arc is live serving customers 👇

[FORTUNE @FortuneMagazine]

Arc (@MeetArc), a voice AI startup that takes orders and optimizes business performance at drive-thru, has raised $10.76 million seed funding, Fortune learned exclusively. Andreessen Horowitz led the round. https://t.co/zxGrJPaIjI

[Ali Hussain @alihussaincs]

Today @MeetArc announces our $10.76M Seed led by @a16z, with participation from @Adverbvc , Broadway Restaurant Group, and @unitedtalent.

200K US drive-thrus run on 1950s tech. Arc lets operators run them like modern digital channels: design the experience, A/B test upsell, see live AI insights.

Higher tickets. Better accuracy. Happier crews.
This is just the beginning, as we work to empower all kinds of local businesses with AI.

Grateful to be backed by investors who deeply understand local commerce, AI, and the restaurant industry. Thanks also to an amazing group of angels including @thefriley, @saumil, @henrydelouv, @Mikegagent, and @jschwarz9.

[michael maclennan @maclennanm]

Heading to the @NatlRestShow next week.

If you wake up thinking about drive-thrus, I would love to compare notes. We have live deployment data on voice AI upsell, take rates, and offer A/B testing.

DM to grab time or come say hi.
#2026RestaurantShow

[Ali Hussain @alihussaincs]

The numbers in this paper rest on a voice AI stack we purpose-built for the drive-thru: proprietary models trained on real DT orders; infrastructure that handles pauses, accents, and noise; buffering/endpointing built for speed. 95%+ order accuracy and independence, no confirmation board and faster order time.

[michael maclennan @maclennanm]

At Square, our kiosk orders averaged 15 - 20% higher tickets than the counter.

Optimized flow. Less social friction. No time pressure.

So at @MeetArc, we asked: is that same latent demand sitting in the drive-thru?