Restaurant Business- GoTab raises $18M to fuel pragmatic approach to growth

GoTab, a company specializing in contactless ordering and payment systems, has raised $18 million in a Series A funding round.

CEO Tim McLaughlin founded GoTab in 2016 and until now has funded it largely with his own capital. He has focused on pragmatic and profitable growth and plans to do more of the same with this latest investment from Truist Ventures.

“Our money is being used practically, on the same stuff it’s always been used on, which is product and sales,” McLaughlin said in an interview.

Specifically, that will entail rolling out new hardware for GoTab’s POS and kitchen display systems as well as a new “Pocket POS” that runs on a smartphone. It’s also adding new languages and continuing to expand its integration abilities.

“Nothing big or crazy,” McLaughlin said, adding that the investment is also expected to make the company cash-flow positive.

Arlington, Va.-based GoTab has carved out a unique niche in the restaurant tech ecosystem. Its products, which include QR-code-based ordering and payment and RFID technology, are designed for food businesses with unusual or multi-vendor formats, such as breweries and food halls, McLaughlin said.

For instance, its EasyTab product allows customers to order a drink at the bar and open a running tab on their phone, where they can order more drinks without having to get back in line.

GoTab targets high-volume businesses, reasoning that they are the most in need of this kind of technology. “Anything that creates surge-y business volumes, it’s really hard to staff and it’s also really hard to maximize your sales,” McLaughlin said.

It currently has about 1,500 locations using its tech. This year, it expects to grow total revenue by 100% to 200% year over year, McLaughlin said.

The bulk of that revenue comes from processing fees, which restaurants can choose to either pay themselves or pass to the customer. For transactions where a physical card is not used, like mobile orders, the standard fee is 1% of the total plus 25 cents.

“We basically give the guest the option. If the guest wants to go pay at the counter, they avoid the fee,” McLaughlin said. “It turns out when given the choice, they say, ‘I’m fine with that.’”