How much funding has Zest raised?

Zest has raised $1.8M in total funding. Their latest funding round was Pre-Seed. Key investors include 776 (Alexis Ohanian), Kindred Ventures (Steve Jang).

Where is Zest headquartered?

Zest is headquartered in Oakland, United States. The company has a team of 1-10 people.

Zest operates in the AI Agents sector. Consumer restaurant discovery app and text-message AI concierge that recommends restaurants from users' verified dining history and books tables. Restaurant recommendations based on where you and your friends actually eat (verified card transactions), not strangers' star ratings. Delivered through an AI agent you can text, with no app required.

When was Zest founded?

Zest was founded in 2024. It is based in Oakland, United States.

How much funding has Zest raised?

Zest has raised $1.8M in total funding. Key investors include 776 (Alexis Ohanian), Kindred Ventures (Steve Jang).

Who is the CEO of Zest?

Mario Gomez-Hall is the CEO of Zest. The company was founded in 2024.

Where is Zest located?

Zest is headquartered in Oakland, United States.

What funding stage is Zest at?

Zest is currently at the Seed stage.

How many employees does Zest have?

Zest has approximately 1-10 employees.

Zest

Category: AI Agents

Consumer restaurant discovery app and text-message AI concierge that recommends restaurants from users' verified dining history and books tables. Zest was founded in 2024. The company is led by Mario Gomez-Hall. Based in Oakland, United States. Team size: 1-10. Total funding raised: $1.8M. Latest round: Pre-Seed. Key investors include 776 (Alexis Ohanian), Kindred Ventures (Steve Jang).

Founded: 2024
Headquarters: Oakland, United States
Team size: 1-10
Total funding: $1.8M

Value proposition

Restaurant recommendations based on where you and your friends actually eat (verified card transactions), not strangers' star ratings. Delivered through an AI agent you can text, with no app required.

Products and solutions

Zest Maps mobile app (automatic personal dining map built from linked card transactions, friend and creator follows, Fresh Picks, Zest Wrapped), Zest text concierge (iMessage/SMS agent at 212-470-6067) that gives recommendations, answers questions about places, blends group-chat tastes, runs in-thread voting, and books tables via OpenTable, Resy and SevenRooms.

Unique value

Taste profile bootstrapped from verified visits (Plaid-imported food and drink transactions) instead of ratings or onboarding questions, so the agent personalizes from day one.

Target customer

Consumer diners, including friend groups planning outings and travelers looking for local picks.

Industries served

Consumer / Dining and Hospitality / Local Discovery

Technology advantage

Proprietary verified-dining-spend dataset combined with a social graph of friends' visits and more than 80M aggregated reviews (Michelin through Reddit). Revenue is planned from booking and ordering.

How they differentiate

Recommendations come from verified spend and friends' real visits rather than self-reported ratings, and an agent interface in text and group chat removes the need for an app.

Main competitors

Beli, Yelp, Google Maps

Key partnerships

Plaid (card data import), OpenTable, Resy and SevenRooms (reservations).

Major milestones

Founded Nov 2024, long private beta, public app launch May 6, 2026, text-based AI concierge launched Oct 29-30, 2026 with reservation booking.

Growth metrics

Over 100,000 visits within weeks of public launch (June 2026); CEO's site cites 200K+ visits in the first 2 months; initial thousands of users as of Oct 2026.

Market positioning

Early-stage, consumer-first AI dining concierge moving from app to agent. Plans to expand beyond restaurants into shopping and other city spots.

Geographic focus

United States (initially major metros), with global recommendations for travelers.

About Mario Gomez-Hall

Ex-Head of Design, Saturn (social calendar app, acquired by Snap); Staff Designer, Lyft; Senior Product Designer, Square; co-founder of Cymbal.FM (music social network, backed by General Catalyst and Rainfall); founder of Solokey. B.S. Engineering Psychology, Tufts University (2015).

Latest news about Zest

Zest launches text-based AI concierge for restaurant recommendations and reservations

More AI Agents companies

Official website: https://www.textzest.com