The RTN Start-Up Alley competition, at MURTEC 2025: Experience Matters, drew some of the most promising new ideas in restaurant technology, offering a glimpse at the future of the industry. The competition began with 15 start-ups, each showcasing their solution in the MURTEC exhibit hall for evaluation by a panel of industry experts, culminating in a final onstage “pitch off” among three finalists.
PickPad’s Winning Solution
Ultimately, PickPad’s order pickup system took the top spot after facing off with other finalists All-Day and Livelytics as the judges peppered the three solutions with questions and the audience voted on a winner.
Based in Chicago, PickPad’s modular system, powered by sensors and machine learning, automates the entire order pickup process, seamlessly integrating with existing point-of-sale (POS) systems, allowing restaurants to enhance their workflows without significant changes or capital investment.
Yaro Tsyhanenko, Founder and CEO of PickPad, summed up the spirit of the competition perfectly: “For me, it’s not about the award—I truly believe all 15 amazing startups deserved it. It was an incredible opportunity to share our vision, fresh ideas, and new perspectives on the modern challenges restaurants face today.”
Key Contributors
RTN Start-Up Alley 2025 was sponsored by SageNet, whose Vice President, Innovation, Courtney Radke, noted, “We are honored to be a part of this event and for the opportunity to continue driving forward technology innovation in the restaurant industry. Hats off to the Restaurant Technology Network for bringing together an amazing group of finalists for the 5th annual Start-Up Alley at the 30th anniversary of MURTEC!”
Three judges from major restaurant brands were essential to the competition’s success:
- Cacy Bedoka-Merrifield, Principal Product Manager at Jack-in-the-Box
- Susan Lucas, Chief Information Officer at Cooper’s Hawk
- Stephanie Nardini, Vice President of IT at Jersey Mike’s
