Owner funding, valuation and investors

Overview

Owner (owner.com) sells an AI operating layer for local businesses, starting with independent restaurants: websites, online ordering, branded apps, CRM, customer support, POS, and AI phone ordering. Co-founders Adam Guild (CEO) and Dean Bloembergen (CTO) launched the company in 2020 and are based in San Francisco. On August 28, 2026 Owner announced a $240 million Series D at a $2.3 billion valuation led by Growth Equity at Goldman Sachs Alternatives, with Meritech, Redpoint, Headline, and Jack Altman participating. The company says it has surpassed $100 million ARR, that independent restaurants will drive more than $1 billion in sales through the platform this year, and that more than 100 million U.S. consumers have used it. Those are company figures. Goldman Sachs Alternatives and Meritech do not have Venture Capital Tracker fund pages; Redpoint and Headline do.

Why Owner is interesting

August 28, 2026: $240M Series D at $2.3B, led by Goldman Sachs Alternatives, with Redpoint and Headline returning. Company cites more than $100M ARR. The $1B sales-through-Owner line is platform throughput, not ARR. Not /startup/blackbird, and not Blackbird’s Australian $1.05B VC fund.

Product & use cases

A single AI layer that builds and runs a local business’s digital storefront, marketing, support, POS, and phone ordering, with agents that publish campaigns and take orders.

• Independent restaurants replacing marketplace-only ordering
• Branded mobile apps and CRM for repeat guests
• AI phone ordering and review / email replies
• Commission-free online ordering and branded restaurant apps

Key facts

• Aug 28, 2026: $240M Series D at $2.3B led by Goldman Sachs Alternatives (PR Newswire / owner.com/d)
• Returning: Meritech, Redpoint, Headline, Jack Altman
• Company: more than $100M ARR; $1B 2026 sales-through-Owner is throughput, not ARR
• Prior: Series C $120M @ $1B (2025, company memo)
• Not /startup/blackbird (restaurant loyalty) and not Blackbird VC Fund VI

Funding history (newest first)

Investors in our directory

Funds linked from Owner's profile — open a fund page for stage focus and related deal articles.

Competitive landscape

Edge: End-to-end ownership of the storefront plus agentic marketing — priced as Shopify-for-local rather than another restaurant plugin.

Owner is a growth-stage software bet that independents will pay for an AI CMO/CTO instead of stitching Toast, a website vendor, and a marketplace. Diligence is ARR quality and take-rate, not the Domino’s/Taco Bell location comparison in the release.

• Toast incumbent

  Public restaurant POS and payments stack. Owner is a private $2.3B Series D bet that an AI layer can run more of the digital work for independents.

• DoorDash / marketplace storefronts incumbent

  Owner’s pitch is direct ordering so independents are not only a marketplace listing.

• Blackbird adjacent

  Restaurant loyalty on this site (/startup/blackbird). Different product. Do not merge with Owner or with Blackbird’s Australian $1.05B VC fund.

Notable stories

• Co-founders Adam Guild (CEO) and Dean Bloembergen (CTO); the Series D release also names President and COO Rob Lehman (PR Newswire, Aug 28, 2026).
• Company memo frames Owner as ‘Shopify for local business owners,’ starting with restaurants and expanding toward a $785B brick-and-mortar SMB opportunity claim.

Industries

Related funding articles

Venture Capital Tracker pieces that cover Owner's financing or category context.

• What Is Owner’s Valuation in 2026? $2.3B After a $240M Series D
• Owner’s $240M Series D at $2.3B: AI Ops for Independent Restaurants
• August 28–29 VC News: a16z $1.1B, Owner $2.3B, OpenAI–Cursor
• August 28–29 VC News: Local AI Ops, Machine Age Hardware, GPU Debt & EM Brokerage
• August 2026 VC News: What Closed Through the 29th?