Propping Up Pop-Ups

In 2020, when a wave of pop-ups burst on the scene—some out of necessity from COVID shutdowns, others from boredom—the fun of it all was its casual nature. An Instagram story about a takeover at a bar, with orders taken via DMs, felt more personal than interfacing with a delivery or reservation app. But six years later, the pop-ups that have become full-time capital b Businesses have had to think long-term about putting structures and systems in place in order to scale, even if it’s unsexy. And tech companies are vying to be their solution—part of what Caper has described as the “pop-up industrial complex” that giants like Resy have evolved their businesses around. It’s a global market that at least one research analyst site estimates was, as of this year, supposedly valued at $5.22 billion and will reach $6.31 billion by 2035 (the full scope of pop-ups is difficult to track given how many of them exist only on social media). 

Hotplate, which launched in early 2020, debuted at the right moment. Founder Rishi Talati started the online platform straight out of college with his partner Ben Klenk (later adding Tenaya McCoy, a third partner). Talati had been working at a local Austin food delivery service and was tired of participating in what he characterized as an extractive business model where restaurants have to give away much of their profit in order to expand their reach.