By Orit Naomi, RTN staff writer - 4.11.2025
Chicago-based restaurant technology startup ClearCOGS has announced the successful close of a $3.8 million seed funding round. The company, founded in 2021 by Matt Wampler, a former Jimmy John’s franchisee, and Osa Osarenkhoe, a computer engineer and entrepreneur, has developed an AI-powered forecasting engine designed to help restaurants make smarter, faster decisions around labor scheduling and inventory management.
The funding round was led by Closed Loop Partners’ Venture Group, a firm committed to advancing the circular economy through innovation, with additional participation from Myriad Venture Partners and Level Up Ventures, a venture arm of Hearst Corporation. With this new capital, ClearCOGS plans to deepen its platform capabilities, expand its customer base, and continue its mission of bringing data-driven clarity to an industry often burdened by uncertainty and slim margins.
ClearCOGS is part of a growing wave of restaurant technology companies leveraging artificial intelligence to address long-standing inefficiencies in foodservice operations. Unlike more visible applications of AI in the industry—such as voice ordering, chatbots, or dynamic menu personalization—ClearCOGS operates behind the scenes, helping restaurants answer some of the most basic but critical operational questions: “How much staff do I need tomorrow?” and “How much chicken should I prep?”
The ClearCOGS software integrates directly with a restaurant’s existing tech stack—typically point-of-sale (POS) systems, kitchen display systems (KDS), and inventory management tools—and applies AI models to generate highly accurate forecasts. These forecasts are based on both historical patterns and real-time variables such as weather, events, daypart trends, location-specific nuances, and demand surges.
“Restaurant operators often rely on gut instinct and spreadsheets to make major decisions about food prep and staffing,” said Matt Wampler, CEO of ClearCOGS. “We believe they shouldn’t have to navigate that uncertainty alone. This funding empowers us to deliver reliable forecasting tools that help operators reduce waste, avoid overstaffing, and run more efficient businesses.”
ClearCOGS says its platform now leverages over 100 million data points to produce daily, shift-level forecasts. The goal is to arm restaurant teams with clear, actionable insights—not generalized dashboards. For example, a GM at a sandwich shop might be told: “You’ll sell 183 sandwiches on Tuesday—down 11% from last week due to the weather and school break.” That level of precision enables staff to prep more accurately and avoid throwing away surplus food.
Current clients include Jimmy John’s, Cali BBQ, and Goop Kitchen, each using the system to gain better control over daily operations. According to Wampler, many restaurants using ClearCOGS have seen measurable reductions in food waste, improved labor allocation, and better visibility into upcoming demand—all without adding more complexity to their workflows.
“We built ClearCOGS for busy operators,” said co-founder Osarenkhoe. “Our technology runs in the background and provides straightforward answers without requiring users to learn a new system. It’s not about dashboards and data dumps—it’s about clarity and confidence in decision-making.”
The restaurant industry has long struggled with unpredictability. The COVID-19 pandemic only accelerated challenges related to staffing shortages, supply chain volatility, and food cost inflation. In this context, operational precision has become essential—not just for profitability, but for survival.
Enter AI-powered forecasting. ClearCOGS represents a new generation of tools helping operators shift from reactive to proactive management. Instead of reacting to missed labor targets or last-minute product shortages, restaurants using AI-powered insights can staff appropriately and prep ingredients in alignment with real-time, localized demand.
“ClearCOGS is helping to drive a shift from manual guesswork to intelligent forecasting,” said Danielle Joseph, Managing Director at Closed Loop Partners. “By providing clarity and precision to restaurant operators, they’re not only helping reduce food waste, but also contributing to a more efficient and resilient foodservice ecosystem.”
That mission dovetails with Closed Loop’s broader commitment to sustainability and the circular economy—an increasingly important focus area for investors and operators alike as climate concerns and food waste reduction targets become more urgent across the industry.
With the seed funding secured, ClearCOGS plans to invest in product development, expand integrations with additional restaurant platforms, and onboard new customers across both independent restaurants and regional chains. The company is also exploring use cases beyond traditional QSR and fast casual models, including ghost kitchens, virtual brands, and enterprise operators seeking to bring more sophistication to unit-level decision-making.
Wampler and Osarenkhoe say their long-term vision is to become the standard decision-support layer for restaurant operations—an always-on assistant that quietly empowers operators to make smarter choices every day. “The restaurant industry is one of the most dynamic, fast-paced environments there is,” said Wampler. “With ClearCOGS, we’re not replacing human expertise—we’re enhancing it. We’re helping operators make confident, data-driven decisions in real time, so they can focus on what they do best: running great restaurants.”
