Tock, a Chicago reservation startup from Alinea co-founder Nick Kokonas, has been acquired by Squarespace for $400 million.
The companies announced the deal on Wednesday, saying New York-based Squarespace purchased Tock for $400 million in a mix of cash and stock.
Tock, a restaurant reservation app that makes diners put down a deposit in order to hold a table and competes with similar companies like Opentable, has grown to serve more than 7,000 restaurants, wineries and pop-ups across 30 countries. It was founded in 2014 by Kokonas and former Googler Brian Fitzpatrick.
Squarespace, a website building service and e-commerce company, said in a press release that it purchased Tock to allow its customers to integrate Tock’s reservation management platform into their own businesses, accelerate sales and connect directly with customers.
“E-commerce within the restaurant and hospitality industries is a large and growing market opportunity,” said Anthony Casalena, Squarespace founder and CEO, in a statement. “I’ve long admired Tock’s vision to reimagine how reservation-based businesses connect with their customers. We believe that together we will continue building on their success, bringing Tock’s capabilities to our all-in-one product suite in service of our customers in the hospitality industry and beyond.”
Tock's entire staff will join Squarespace's team and Kokonas will remain Tock's CEO.
As a restaurant reservation app, Tock acted fast to address challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic to not only keep its business going, but to provide a needed service to a restaurant industry also struggling to survive.
At the start of the pandemic, Tock launched Tock to Go, a feature that lets restaurants offer pickup and delivery. The service is aimed at restaurants that previously weren't equipped to offer takeout, helping them recoup lost revenue and employ more of their staff.
A few months later, Tock raised $10 million from Chicago’s Origin Ventures and Valor Siren Ventures, a fund managed by Chicago’s Valor Equity Partners that counts Starbucks among its investors. Overall, Tock has raised more than $27 million, according to Crunchbase.
“Combining Tock’s unified platform and years of hospitality industry expertise with Squarespace’s reach, resources, and design-forward products, in our view, creates an opportunity to deliver a best-in-class solution to millions of entrepreneurs and small businesses around the world,” Kokonas said in a statement.
