Bay Area restaurant tech provider Presto goes public in SPAC merger

Presto Automation Inc., which automates ordering at restaurants like McDonald's and Applebee's, debuted on Wall Street Thursday after merging with a blank check company. In early trading Thursday morning, the Redwood City company's stock price (Nasdaq:PRST) was about about 24% above Wednesday's closing price of its merger partner, Ventoux CCM Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq:VTAQ). Presto is the latest company to raise far less than expected in a merger with a special purpose acquisition company. It got…