When BiteSight founder Lucious McDaniel IV posted a short TikTok pitching his video-based food delivery app, he had no idea it would trigger a viral sensation and send his startup soaring to the top of the App Store’s Food & Beverage category.
The video followed a popular TikTok trend: McDaniel’s sister Kendall sternly announced that viewers were about to see a “presentation” before stepping aside for her brother to pitch. BiteSight, which lets users watch short videos of food, view what their friends are ordering, and bookmark places to try, struck a chord with the TikTok generation. Within 15 minutes of posting, the video had over 20,000 views—and growing.
As user demand surged, parts of the app began to crash. The engineering team scrambled to keep things running, while McDaniel turned the experience into more TikTok content—documenting the chaos, which only added to the app’s virality. Audiences responded positively to the transparency and behind-the-scenes look at a startup “blowing up overnight.”
The original video has since gained nearly 4 million likes on TikTok and a quarter million on Instagram, placing BiteSight among a new wave of Gen Z-led startups using short-form video for traction and growth.
The idea to pitch the app on TikTok came after McDaniel saw a friend do the same for his dating startup. “It got over a million views, and he told me to try it for BiteSight,” McDaniel told TechCrunch.
A former investor at General Atlantic, McDaniel noticed a common problem with existing delivery apps: users kept ordering from the same few restaurants, faced with bland stock photos and indistinguishable ratings. He began tracking food spots discovered on Instagram and TikTok, comparing reviews, and getting input from friends. That manual discovery process eventually inspired BiteSight.
He teamed up with co-founder and CTO Zac Schulwolf, and the duo joined Y Combinator’s Winter 2024 cohort. After a limited beta around NYU in April and a soft launch in May, they posted the viral video in June. The result: a flood of new users, massive social engagement, and a brief moment at No. 2 in the App Store, ahead of giants like Uber Eats and Starbucks.
Restaurants—from small mom-and-pop shops to national chains—started reaching out. So did investors. While McDaniel declined to share details on upcoming funding, he confirmed there’s more news coming soon.
Despite competition from well-funded players like DoorDash, McDaniel sees BiteSight’s AI-first, lean approach as an advantage. By automating workflows and minimizing overhead, the team can scale efficiently and offer better value to both customers and restaurant partners.
What sets BiteSight apart is its focus: food discovery through video and friend recommendations. “We want to be the go-to app for a generation that finds everything through social and short-form content,” McDaniel said.
