A Birmingham startup is making moves and expanding into new markets as it aims to eliminate one of the most dreaded parts of a night out — waiting in line to pay a tab.
TabX, which was founded by brothers Josh and Jay Taylor, allows bar patrons to pay for drinks with an app rather than waiting to get the attention of a bartender. The company recently expanded into Austin and Denver and its leaders are looking to soon expand into Nashville.
"TabX is designed for high-volume bars and venues. Our locations we have in Denver and Austin are bars and breweries and some of the most popular locations in those markets," said Josh Taylor. "Getting the first few locations in a new market is always the most difficult since the bar owners don’t know of us and we don’t have any locations in that city."
Taylor said by the end of June, he expects TabX to have 10-15 locations in Denver and 15-20 in Austin. TabX has locations in Athens, Georgia, and St. Petersburg, Florida as well.
The company is also gearing up to raise its first equity round, which it plans to execute this summer or fall. The company has raised money locally and has investors in Atlanta, Chicago, San Francisco and Philadelphia.
It is projecting to surpass break-even revenue this fall — a major milestone for a startup, which Taylor called a crucial data point for future fundraising that will be used to continue the company's expansion.
"Birmingham is our home and headquarters but we are now embarking on expanding to new markets and that expansion will only speed up over the next 12-plus months," Taylor said. "We think the Birmingham startup community, investor community and bar-goers will be proud of our short-term and long-term growth."
In the earlier stages of growth, TabX first secured partnerships in Birmingham before moving into other SEC cities and Southeastern towns. It also focused on point-of-sale companies. TabX integrates with Toast, FocusPOS, Aloha, Micros, Dinerware and POSitouch.
