Table8, a restaurant reservation startup that lets you pay a fee in advance to book a table at a popular spot, announced that it is shutting down.
The startup said on its website that it will close operations on February 28 as it was "not able to secure enough capital to continue to grow the business." The San Francisco-based startup, which was founded in 2013 and raised $4.6 million in funding, was in 14 cities. It opened in Chicago in 2015 as was available at dozens of restaurants such as GT Fish & Oyster, Prime & Provisions and Sunda.
Table8 charged users $20 to secure a table at sought-after restaurants, and reservations could be made weeks or hours before the meal. The fee is split between the startup and the restaurant. Founded by Worldview Technology Partners VC Pete Goettner and former Twitter executive Santosh Jayaram, Table8 was aimed primarily at business travelers. News of the closing was reported earlier by the Tribune.
Table8 posted the following note on its website:
Nearly three years ago, we set out on a mission to make finding and booking great restaurants easier and more democratic. In creating the Table8 Dining Club, we have enabled simpler dining discovery across the US.
We are saddened to announce that we will be wrapping up operations at Table8 on February 28, as we were not able to secure enough capital to continue to grow the business. We have enjoyed helping you find great restaurants, access tough-to-book reservations and discover local chef events.
Table8 went up against industry giant Opentable, as well as other smaller startups like Reserve and Resy.
Chicago startup Tock, founded by Alinea Owner Nick Kokonas and former Googler Brian Fitzpatrick, has a somewhat similar business model. Tock charges a fee in advance to score a table at a popular restaurant, but that fee is applied to your final bill. And it doesn't split the transaction with the restaurant, instead charging the establishment a fee for using its booking service. Tock has raised over $7 million since launching in 2014.
Screengrab via Table8
