Restaurant management platform Toast unveiled a $400 million Series F funding round led by Bessemer Venture Partners, Greenoaks Capital, Tiger Global Management and TPG. Also participating were TCV, Durable Capital Partners LP, G Squared, Light Street Capital, Alta Park Capital, funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, among others, according to an announcement from the company.
“As a result of our tremendous growth and commitment to the restaurant industry, we have continued to see a significant amount of demand from the investor community,” Toast CEO Chris Comparato said in the funding announcement. “As the clear platform leader in the restaurant space, we are excited to use this investment to extend our capabilities and drive a bigger impact for the restaurant industry.”
The company says it will put the investment proceeds toward its technology platform to meet the evolving needs of the restaurant space. Those efforts include hardware and software investments to increase speed of service, cut operational costs and streamline the guest experience and new products meant to increase restaurant revenue as well as deepen restaurateurs’ connections with guests.
They also encompass financial products that offer fast as well as reliable access to funding to assist restaurateurs in scaling their companies and functions to enhance the restaurant employee experience, address the industry’s pressing labor challenges and decrease employee turnover. Toast’s revenue, for its part, rose 109 percent over the course of last year as “tens of thousands of new restaurants joined the Toast community” per the company.
Bessemer Venture Partners Partner Kent Bennett said in the announcement, “Just as the retail industry weathered disruption from e-commerce over the past two decades, restaurateurs now face shifting consumer expectations and a changing landscape of tech players who threaten to erode restaurant brands.”
Bennett continued, “Toast wants to partner with the restaurant community to level the playing field and strengthen this nearly trillion dollar industry. We’re thrilled to continue to support this incredible team in 2020 and beyond.”