UPDATE: Sept. 13, 2021: Toast plans to register 25 million Class A common stocks with prices per share ranging from $30 to $33, according to an amended S-1 filing submitted Monday to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The proposed maximum aggregate offering price has been updated to $825 million under these terms. 

Dive Brief:

• Restaurant technology company Toast is seeking an initial public offering of up to $100 million, according to an S-1 filing submitted Friday to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Earlier this year the company was rumored to be seeking a valuation of $20 billion.
• As of June 30, the company's technology is in about 48,000 restaurant locations across 29,000 customers. Toast processed over $38 billion in gross payment volume in the trailing 12 months. 
• The pandemic hit Toast particularly hard, leading it to cut about half of its staff via furloughs and layoffs in 2020, but the company bounced back as more restaurants turned to online ordering. Toast processed nearly 50 million orders through digital platforms from March to December 2020.

Dive Insight:

Beyond pandemic disruption, the company, which was founded in 2011, has experienced a meteoric rise. It grew from having its technology in 6,000 restaurant locations in 2017 to 33,129 as of June 30, 2020, gaining an additional 14,813 locations through June, 30, 2021 when it reached 47,942 sites, according to the S-1 filing. The company's revenue grew 105% from $344 million to $704 million during the six months ended June 30, 2021, compared to the previous period.

While it has continually innovated its products since its foundation, Toast has also grown through acquisitions. It acquired xtraChef, which offers back-office technology for restaurants, in June, two years after it acquired HR and payroll software provider StratEx.

The pandemic, however, shifted Toast's focus slightly as more companies eyed contactless and digital ordering platforms. Following the onset of the pandemic, 25,000 restaurant locations added Toast's contactless technologies, according to a press release.

"As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, we've seen a big shift in dining behavior and an acceleration in technology adoption," the company said in its S-1 filing. "Many restaurant operators have rebuilt their businesses to meet new guest expectations for ordering online, contactless payments, and digital hospitality. Through new Toast product offerings like contactless Order & Pay for indoor dining, curbside notifications for takeout, and flat-fee delivery via Toast Delivery Services, we've supported our customers through this transition."

In April, Toast updated its Order & Pay program, adding pre-authorization tabs to let diners start a tab, pre-authorize a credit card from their device and order individually or for group ordering. The company also recently launched Toast Now, a digital-only platform for restaurants to quickly activate online ordering, delivery, gift card and email marketing capabilities according to the filing.

Toast also expects spending on restaurant technology to increase as more operators add tools to help their operations. Restaurants in the U.S. spent about $25 billion on technology in 2019, making up less than 3% of the restaurant industry's total sales, according to the filing. The company expects technology spend to increase to $55 billion by 2024.

Toast plans to continue growing by selling additional products to its existing customers and by investing in research and development to expand functionality of its current platform. The company will also broaden its services and financial technology solutions and expand internationally.

"When restaurants grow, Toast grows through higher payments volume and increased adoption of our full platform," the company said. 

Toast joins a growing list of restaurant technology companies filing IPOs since the pandemic. Olo became a public company earlier this year, raising $450 million through its IPO, while DoorDash went public in December.