Italy’s hospitality scene thrives on word of mouth, yet traditional reviews and influencer-driven content often distort what guests actually experience. Bestie Bite, a Rome-based startup is rewriting that dynamic with an app designed to turn genuine video reviews from everyday diners and travellers into powerful marketing tools for restaurants and hotels.
The company has closed a $700K funding round to accelerate product development, team expansion, and international rollout, with its first stop planned in the United States. The funding round was led by Techstars, alongside Zooga VC, created by founders with a major exit in the hospitality sector and Mamba Ventures, backed entirely by well-known entrepreneurs including Pietro Maria Picogna and Giacomo Gentili. Additional support came from business angels such as Christian Marcon, Angelo La Rocca, and Epicode founder Claudio Vaccaro.
With a growing team of four, including CTO Placido Falqueto and developer Simone Ferretti, Bestie Bite is now preparing for international expansion. In January, the founders will head to San Francisco and New York to explore commercial partnerships and establish the company’s first landing in the U.S. market.
A new language for discovery: real experiences, not polished ads
Co-founders Carlotta Robbe Di Lorenzo and Caterina Vertefeuille built Bestie Bite around a simple insight: video captures the atmosphere of a venue in a way written reviews cannot. Users film their experiences, good or bad and upload short clips that allow others to feel the “vibe” of a place before booking a table or room.
The platform tackles a widespread frustration: reviews buried in promotions, unreliable text platforms and content dominated by influencers. By rewarding users through cashback and gamification, Bestie Bite encourages honest contributions rather than paid endorsements. The approach is resonating quickly and the app has already crossed 70,000 registered users and 60,000 uploaded videos from more than 70 countries, even entering Italy’s top 10 most downloaded apps at peak viral moments.
Turning guests into the most credible marketers
For hospitality businesses, authenticity has become a currency. Bestie Bite converts everyday customers into a trusted marketing engine by automatically transforming user-generated videos into ready-to-publish content for restaurants and hotels. Owners receive curated clips directly through WhatsApp, simplifying social media marketing without agencies, shoots or editing costs.
AI-powered sentiment and performance insights also enable restaurants to understand customer perception in real-time, identifying service strengths, weaknesses and trends based on genuine feedback. Pescaria, one of the earliest structured adopters, already uses Bestie Bite to access a continuous flow of reusable content and customer-experience analytics.
“I invested in BestieBite in 2024 after meeting Carlotta and Caterina, two founders with rare clarity, incredible resilience, and an authentic human side that makes working with them a real privilege. It took me exactly one meeting to know I wanted to invest. I’ve backed many hospitality companies before, so I know how tough this market is. But with them, it was obvious they wouldn’t give up until they cracked it,” said Martin Olczyk, Managing Director at Techstars and serial investor.
“We built Bestie Bite starting from a real problem we face every day: choosing a restaurant shouldn’t require luck or hours spent reading unreliable reviews. This round allows us to accelerate a revolution already in motion: restoring authenticity to dining experiences and giving every restaurant simple tools to communicate with transparency” added Carlotta Robbe Di Lorenzo, CEO of Bestie Bite.
“We started in Italy but our ambition is global: we want to make Bestie Bite the standard for discovering and talking about venues in every city in the world. This round allows us to take the next step, bringing our solution to the United States and opening new opportunities for international partnerships” commented Caterina Vertefeuille, COO of Bestie Bite.
