There was a time when baristas just had to write a customer’s name on a cup and call it out. They wouldn’t always get the name right, but more often than not, it went to the right person.
The prospect of picking up takeout has, however, become considerably more dicey in this post-pandemic era dominated by the Uber Eats and DoorDashes of the world. Chicago-based hardware startup Pickpad is aiming to address the issue with its little square device of the same name.
The product, which was showcased at CES 2025, is a small platform where coffee shops and restaurants place food and beverage when ready for takeout. The modular “smart pad” system connects directly to a restaurant’s P.O.S. system, automatically inputting customer names onto the base. The startup is currently piloting the technology with a Chicago-based café.
Founder and CEO Yaro Tsyhanenko told TechCrunch that the system will be offered as part of a hardware-as-a-service (HaaS) package, at a price of $9 to $19 a month per pad. That includes support, software, and everything else a restaurant needs to get the system up and running. The exact price depends on how many pads a location adopts and whether they opt to pay annually or monthly.
At the moment, the pads are still pricey to produce, at a cost of around $100, per Tsyhanenko. That should drop a fair bit once Pickpad begins scaling its manufacturing efforts. The company is also eying the creation of full shelves that can easily slot into an Ikea bookcase, creating an automated cubbyhole system for order pickup.
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