Toast Raises $250M, Securing Lead Position in Restaurant Management Software

Photo by Jason Leung.

Restaurant management software provider Toast announced $250 million in additional funding on Monday, valuing the firm at $2.7 billion and cementing its lead position in the SaaS market for restaurants. TCV and Tiger Global Management led the Series E round.

Toast’s bread and butter is its POS system, which streamlines the customer experience, provides data and analytics for restaurant owners and operators, and allows restaurants to retain employees happy with regular tips and tech that works.

Toast’s client base doubled over the past year as its revenue surged 148%. It will invest $1 billion in research and development over the next five years to build out offerings in customer loyalty, employee recruitment and retention, and analytics.

Speculation is likely to emerge about when Toast may consider going public. A spokesperson told VentureBeat that a potential IPO remains a ways away. In the meantime, the company will need to stay atop its game to keep up with POS competitors not necessarily specific to the industry, such as Square and Lightspeed POS, both of which are already on the public market.