Kutlerri.ai raises $4M to help US restaurants grow revenue and cut costs using AI agents

Houston and Bhubaneswar-based Kutlerri.ai has raised $4 million from Houston-based Narahari Investments to scale its AI agents that help restaurants increase revenue and reduce operating costs.

Founded in December 2025 by former HighRadius executives Kiran Rana and Payal Tripathy, the startup develops AI agents that handle specific revenue and cost-related tasks for restaurants. Unlike conventional software subscriptions, Kutlerri.ai charges operators based on the revenue generated or costs saved by its agents.

The company currently serves restaurants in the US and has more than 10 signed customers. Its product and engineering team is based in Bhubaneswar, Odisha; it also has an office in Houston, Texas. The core founding team includes Ankit Narain and Rishabh Srivastav.

The funding will help scale its first commercial product, the AI Catering Sales Agent, bring three agents currently in beta to market, and develop a mobile-first self-service app.

Addressing restaurant profitability

According to the National Restaurant Association's 2026 State of the Restaurant Industry report, US restaurant and foodservice sales are projected to reach $1.55 trillion in 2026, although 42% of operators surveyed reported that they did not make a profit in 2025.

The association also noted in July 2026 that rising costs continued to put pressure on restaurant profitability. Even before the post-pandemic increase in costs, a typical restaurant retained only about five cents of every dollar earned.

With margins this narrow, even small improvements can make a difference. Kutlerri.ai focuses on increasing revenue and reducing costs through AI agents that take on tasks restaurants may not have dedicated staff to manage.

Restaurants already use software for point-of-sale operations, kitchen displays, inventory, online ordering, payroll, and accounting. However, these systems primarily record information rather than act on it.

For instance, catering enquiries may go unanswered, or delivery advertisements may continue running without producing results. Addressing such problems generally requires dedicated staff, which many independent restaurants cannot afford.

Kutlerri.ai’s agents are designed to handle these tasks. Its revenue agents work on catering, third-party delivery, and online ordering, while its cost agents focus on delivery advertising, food and labour costs, daily preparation, and waste.

Restaurants can use the agents through a fully managed service or, once launched, a mobile-first self-service app. In both models, Kutlerri.ai charges a percentage of the additional revenue generated or costs saved. If an agent does not deliver measurable results, the restaurant does not pay.

Catering agent generates $450,000 for RASA

Kutlerri.ai's first commercial product focuses on catering sales.

According to MONKEY's State of Catering 2026 report, 60% of catering orders came from just 5% of customers. The findings were based on transactional data from more than 8,000 restaurant locations and two million catering orders.

The figures highlight the importance of attracting new catering customers and reconnecting with previous ones, particularly for restaurants without dedicated sales teams.

The AI Catering Sales Agent identifies potential catering customers within a 30-mile radius of a restaurant. It contacts businesses through email, text messages, and phone calls, reconnects with inactive customers, responds to incoming calls, chats, and emails, and closes orders. Restaurant operators approve decisions and retain their customer relationships.

Kutlerri.ai developed the agent with RASA, a five-location fast-casual restaurant group in the Washington, DC, area. The two companies worked together to develop the product around RASA’s catering sales requirements, with the restaurant group paying for the service throughout the development period.

According to Kutlerri.ai, the agent generated $450,000 in new catering revenue for RASA over 10 months, more than 10X the amount the restaurant group paid for the service, without requiring additional hires.

The catering agent is now live with operators in most major US cities, the company said.

From HighRadius to restaurant operations

Rana, CEO, and Tripathy, COO, previously worked at HighRadius, where business functions had clear ownership of financial performance.

Their interest in the restaurant sector began after observing the operations of a restaurant run by someone close to them. While the restaurant used several systems to track performance, there was no dedicated person to act on the information.

The founders subsequently spoke with other operators, including fast-casual restaurants and multi-location groups generating around $3 million annually.

They found similar challenges: scattered data, delayed identification of problems, decisions based on judgement rather than data, and margins that had remained unchanged for years.

These observations led them to build Kutlerri.ai around AI agents that could take responsibility for specific revenue and cost-related functions.

Expansion plans

Kutlerri.ai’s product & engineering, marketing, business development and customer success teams operate from India, with each function responsible for outcomes linked to restaurant profitability.

The company currently has one commercially available agent, three agents in beta testing inside restaurants, and two more under development.

It plans to expand its strategy, marketing, customer success and engineering teams as it develops and launches these products.

While Kutlerri.ai currently focuses on US restaurants, it is open to expanding into India and other markets in the future. As the company continues to grow, explore career opportunities with the team careers@kutlerri.ai.