# Vishal Agarwal

> Vishal Agarwal is the founder and CEO of Checkmate (itsacheckmate.com), a New York restaurant technology company that pipes online orders from delivery apps straight into restaurant point-of-sale systems and centralizes menu management across platforms. He started the company in 2016 after waiting too long for a check at a San Francisco airport restaurant, and grew it from a bill-splitting idea into a full digital operations suite used by brands from independent eateries to Arby's and Wendy's. A former Citigroup analyst and Choxi.com marketing chief, Agarwal built Checkmate past 100 million processed orders and, backed by Inspire Brands, expanded into kiosks, reconciliation, and voice AI.

- **Role:** Founder & CEO at Checkmate (ItsaCheckmate.com Inc.)
- **Organizations:** Checkmate (ItsaCheckmate.com Inc.), Choxi.com, Citigroup, Forbes Technology Council
- **From:** India
- **Nationality:** Indian
- **Education:** B.Com (Honours), Commerce, Delhi University, MBA, Marketing, K.J. Somaiya Institute of Management Studies and Research
- **Known for:** Founded and scaled Checkmate to more than 100 million processed restaurant orders, Grew the company to roughly 380 employees with an estimated $44 million in annual revenue, Secured investment from Inspire Brands (parent of Arby's, Wendy's-adjacent brands) in Series B

## Career timeline

- **2005** — Earned MBA in Marketing from K.J. Somaiya Institute of Management Studies and Research
- **2005-2010** — Worked at Citigroup in India for roughly four years
- **2010** — Moved to Vancouver and joined e-commerce startup Choxi.com as EVP, Chief Marketing Officer and Board Member
- **2016** — Left Choxi.com and founded Checkmate (ItsaCheckmate.com) in New York
- **2018** — Raised Series A funding and surpassed 1 million processed orders
- **2019** — Reached 10 million processed orders
- **2020** — Inspire Brands invested in Checkmate's Series B round
- **2021** — Exceeded 100 million processed orders
- **2022** — Established an Indian subsidiary
- **2023** — Launched Reconcile and Refund & Dispute Management; acquired Open:Tender
- **2024** — Raised additional funding (approx. $10M); rolled out kiosk and AI-powered digital menu boards

## Achievements

- Founded and scaled Checkmate to more than 100 million processed restaurant orders
- Grew the company to roughly 380 employees with an estimated $44 million in annual revenue
- Secured investment from Inspire Brands (parent of Arby's, Wendy's-adjacent brands) in Series B
- Partnered with Square to integrate Checkmate into Square's tablet offerings
- Named a member of the Forbes Technology Council; featured in TechCrunch and Forbes
- Expanded Checkmate from a checkout app into a full restaurant digital operations suite spanning ordering, menu management, reconciliation, refunds, kiosks, and voice AI

## Latest updates

- **2024-10** — Checkmate raised additional funding (roughly $10M, reported as Series B) and continued its push into kiosks and AI-powered digital menu boards.
- **2023-08** — In a Food On Demand feature, Agarwal framed Checkmate's stability against a turbulent restaurant tech market: 'We're the plane that has landed.'

## Links

- Website: http://vishalagarwal.net/
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/vishalagarwal82
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/itsacheckmate
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAg1OwWosGA
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/itsacheckmate/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/vishal-agarwal
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-07