Restaurant and retail technology platform Toast has garnered more than 170,000 partners since its launch in 2012 by developing products such as point-of-sale systems and loyalty solutions to revamp tech stacks. This summer, however, it seeks an operator with ambitions to open a restaurant for a first-of-its-kind collaborative initiative.
The Massachusetts-based technology company announced the initiative June 16, dubbing the restaurant incubator effort “Toast Lab.” With an application period running through July 14, Toast is offering funding, guidance, and access to its full suite of products and services to an entrepreneur looking to open a new restaurant in the Boston area.
Toast looks to work closely with the selected operator to collaborate and co-develop, redefine and test products. The company hopes to gain insight into the intricacies of building a successful restaurant in today’s environment, offering strategic capital, early access to products and mentorship from Toast’s executive leadership team while turning the restaurant ambition into a reality.
“Our earliest customers were instrumental in shaping Toast’s trajectory, giving us the feedback we needed to make our technology better,” Kelly Esten, Toast’s chief marketing officer and chief operating officer of enterprise, said in a release. “Toast Lab is a formal return to that instinct, inspired by our belief that the best restaurant technology gets built when operators and product teams are working side-by-side to create something new together. We’re looking for an operator who wants to build their next great restaurant, and we’re excited to let that restaurant inform where our technology goes next.”
Toast will announce the selected operator later this year. The company seeks Boston-based applicants with a proven track record of managing full-service restaurant concepts and an innovation-first philosophy.
