# Avi Goren

> Avi Goren is the Austin-based co-founder and CEO of Marqii, a hospitality technology company founded in 2017 to help restaurants manage the information that determines whether guests can find and trust them online. After early work at a Long Island pizzeria and sales roles at Yelp and Yext, Goren turned a failed first concept into a listings, menu, reviews, social, and search platform used by more than 15,000 hospitality businesses. His recurring argument is that accurate hours, menus, and responses are not back-office chores but the first act of hospitality.

- **Role:** Co-Founder and CEO at Marqii
- **Organizations:** Marqii, Yext, Yelp
- **Education:** The University of Texas at Austin
- **Known for:** Co-founded Marqii in 2017 and led it from an unsuccessful specials-focused concept to a broader hospitality digital operations and discovery platform., Led Marqii through a $4.1 million seed round announced in 2022 and a $10 million round announced in 2024, bringing the company's announced total funding to $20 million., Expanded Marqii from more than 3,000 hospitality businesses in 2022 to more than 15,000 by 2026.

## Career timeline

- **High school** — Worked at D'Cocco's, a pizzeria on Long Island, an experience he later connected to his view of restaurant discovery and hospitality.
- **2009-2012** — Attended The University of Texas at Austin.
- **Before 2017** — Worked in sales at Yelp, then in partnerships at Yext; former colleague Bryan Rutcofsky recalled that Goren openly intended to start a company.
- **2017** — Co-founded Marqii with Evan Perlmutter and Bryan Rutcofsky.
- **2021** — Moved to Austin, Texas.
- **2022** — Marqii announced a $4.1 million seed round after reporting more than 600% growth since September 2020 and service to more than 3,000 hospitality businesses.
- **2024** — Marqii raised $10 million, bringing announced total funding to $20 million; the company reported more than 12,000 restaurant partners.
- **2025** — Marqii launched Social Management and continued expanding its guest engagement platform.
- **2026** — Marqii said more than 15,000 hospitality businesses used its platform, formed its first customer advisory board, and introduced an MCP for operator-controlled data access.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Marqii in 2017 and led it from an unsuccessful specials-focused concept to a broader hospitality digital operations and discovery platform.
- Led Marqii through a $4.1 million seed round announced in 2022 and a $10 million round announced in 2024, bringing the company's announced total funding to $20 million.
- Expanded Marqii from more than 3,000 hospitality businesses in 2022 to more than 15,000 by 2026.
- Built a platform connecting restaurant information with more than 80 listings sites and numerous point-of-sale systems.
- Established Marqii's first customer advisory board to bring operators from independent, multi-unit and enterprise restaurants into product feedback.

## Latest updates

- **2026-09** — Marqii published its 2026 restaurant search performance report, comparing platform data across thousands of locations with a survey of 54 operators and reporting that updated hours were associated with four times as many daily search views.
- **2026-06** — Published an explanation of Marqii's new MCP, which gives operators direct access to connect and query their Marqii data through AI tools and other revenue sources.
- **2026-04** — Appeared in a CraveCon interview about fragmented restaurant discovery, digital accuracy and the gap between being found and being chosen.
- **2026-03** — Marqii announced its first customer advisory board, bringing together operators from independent restaurants through enterprise brands.
- **2025-12** — Joined The Simmer podcast to discuss restaurant discovery in the age of generative AI and continuing challenges in reputation management.
- **2025-05** — Marqii launched a social management product intended to centralize another part of the guest journey.

## Links

- Website: https://marqii.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/avigoren

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/avi-goren
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-09-26