INFI began with founder Lucas Liu's firsthand experience inside restaurant operations. After moving to Chicago in 2013 to invest in restaurants, Lucas spent years working in the business — from running the POS at Little Lamb Mongolian hot pot (with a karaoke bar upstairs) to investing in a QSR boba tea shop.
Motivated to find a better way, Lucas experimented with tech solutions early on, including a Groupon-style platform he built from scratch. But it wasn't until he saw McDonald's new ordering kiosks that the idea clicked: independent restaurants needed the same labor-saving tools, built for their scale.
He built the first INFI kiosk for a friend's restaurant, studying how customers used it and refining the design. That prototype led to a patent and acceptance into the Polsky Exchange Incubator at the University of Chicago, where Lucas connected with the designer behind the McDonald's and Panera kiosks — someone who helped validate and strengthen the vision.
INFI was founded with a simple mission: help restaurants thrive with technology that reduces labor strain, enhances guest experience, and preserves every brand's uniqueness.
