Spark Capital-backed Velocity Acquires Tab Payments
10/18/15
Velocity Mobile LTD. today announced its acquisition of Tab Payments Corp., the leading mobile payments app for tastemaker diners in Canada accepted at over 100 restaurants in Toronto and Montreal. The acquisition further expands Velocity's reach, which now connects premier restaurants with global diners in six major cities in the US, UK, and Canada. Key Highlights:
Velocity has acquired Tab Payments, the leading restaurant mobile payments platform in Canada, with over 100 premier restaurants in Toronto and Montreal. Acquisition includes Tab Payments reservation technology, which will be incorporated into the Velocity platform and will provide partner restaurants with direct access to Velocity's global diners. Tab's portfolio of restaurant partners includes iconic names such as The Chase, Byblos, Terroni, and Joe Beef. Transaction strengthens Velocity's position as the world's leading international mobile payment and loyalty platform for restaurants and nightlife. Acquisition follows the recent acquisition of US-based Cover, part of a strategy to provide restaurants with a single technology platform to meet its needs. Toronto is the fourth largest city in North America; Montreal is the second largest city in Canada and ninth largest city in North America. "Toronto's dining scene has flourished to international acclaim recently, so it's great to see a local company join one with global reach," said Craig Harding, owner of Campagnolo, one of Canada's Top 100 restaurants. "Ultimately, it's a win for Canadian restaurants and diners. "
"We're committed to building an international hospitality platform," said Alex Macdonald, Velocity Co-Founder and Co-CEO. "With the acquisition of Tab, we strengthen our global leadership position with reservations technology and 100 premier restaurants in Canada. "
The acquisition is part of Velocity's strategy to develop a vertically integrated stack of hospitality capabilities to heighten the dining experience and connect premier restaurants with the global tastemakers and top hospitality spenders. "We will help restaurants give diners a house account experience anywhere they go," said Zia Yusuf, Velocity Co-Founder and Co-CEO. "Global spenders seek sought-after tables when they travel, and restaurateurs want to know more about their guests. Our international hospitality platform connects these two constituencies. "
Tab Payments restaurants will now have the option to upgrade to Velocity's fully POS integrated payment and loyalty platform, which includes a dashboard and customer relationship management (CRM) tools. In conjunction with the Tab Payments transaction, Adam Epstein, Tab Payments Co-Founder, will lead Velocity's Toronto and Montreal operations. Mike Kimel, Tab Payments Co-Founder and owner of the Chase Restaurant Group, will join the Velocity advisory board. "The Tab team is excited to be joining forces with Velocity," said Kimel. "Combining forces gives us an opportunity to take our mobile hospitality services to the next level with international reach. "
Specific terms of the transaction have not been disclosed. About Velocity 
Velocity is the world's leading international digital hospitality service, connecting guests with restaurant and nightlife experiences. Velocity partners with the world's best venues and empowers them to attract, delight, and retain high-value global customers through the power of mobile payments and loyalty. Velocity enables diners to leverage an international dining profile wherever they go, rewarding them for their global hospitality engagement. The service is live in New York, San Francisco, London, Los Angeles, Toronto, and Montreal. Velocity is a Spark portfolio company. www.velocityapp.com
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Spark Capital-backed Velocity Acquires Tab Payments

M&A news
Velocity acquires Canadian payments app Tab
Deal comes just weeks after acquisition of US platform Cover as London restaurant payments app looks to go global
by Henry Williams
Updated: Oct 19, 2015 Published: Oct 19, 2015
Velocity founders
London-based restaurant payment app Velocity has acquired Canadian competitor Tab Payments Corp; a mobile payments service which works with over 100 restaurants in Montreal and Toronto. Founded by Alex MacDonald and Zia Yusuf, Velocity allows diners to reserve, pay and earn rewards from premier restaurants directly on their phone. The deal, which comes less than a month after the British firm acquired US rival Cover , will see Tab’s booking reservation technology integrated with Velocity’s platform. It will also expand its service to diners in six major cities in the UK, US and Canada. Canadian restaurants currently using Tab Payments will be able to upgrade to Velocity’s payment and loyalty platform as it seeks to create a comprehensive, global hospitality platform. Macdonald commented: “We’re committed to building an international hospitality platform. With the acquisition of Tab, we strengthen our global leadership position with reservations technology and 100 premier restaurants in Canada.”
Craig Harding, owner of Toronto restaurant Campagnolo, added:
“Toronto’s dining scene has flourished to international acclaim recently, so it’s great to see a local company join one with global reach. Ultimately, it’s a win for Canadian restaurants and diners.”

Velocity acquires Canadian payments app Tab

October 16, 2015     0 Comments
Velocity, which is backed by Spark Capital, has acquired Tab Payments Corp. No financial terms were disclosed. In addition to the transaction, Adam Epstein, co-founder of Tab Payments, will lead Velocity’s operations while fellow Tab Payments co-founder Mike Kimel has been appointed to Velocity’s advisory board. Based in Montreal and Toronto, Tab Payments is a dining payments app. PRESS RELEASE
London – October 16, 2015 – Velocity today announced its acquisition of Tab Payments Corp., the leading mobile payments app for tastemaker diners in Canada accepted at over 100 restaurants in Toronto and Montreal. The acquisition further expands Velocity’s reach, which now connects premier restaurants with global diners in six major cities in the US, UK, and Canada. Key Highlights:
· Velocity has acquired Tab Payments, the leading restaurant mobile payments platform in Canada, with over 100 premier restaurants in Toronto and Montreal. · Acquisition includes Tab Payments reservation technology, which will be incorporated into the Velocity platform and will provide partner restaurants with direct access to Velocity’s global diners. · Tab’s portfolio of restaurant partners includes iconic names such as The Chase, Byblos, Terroni, and Joe Beef. · Transaction strengthens Velocity’s position as the world’s leading international mobile payment and loyalty platform for restaurants and nightlife. · Acquisition follows the recent acquisition of US-based Cover, part of a strategy to provide restaurants with a single technology platform to meet its needs. · Toronto is the fourth largest city in North America; Montreal is the second largest city in Canada and ninth largest city in North America. “Toronto’s dining scene has flourished to international acclaim recently, so it’s great to see a local company join one with global reach,” said Craig Harding, owner of Campagnolo, one of Canada’s Top 100 restaurants. “Ultimately, it’s a win for Canadian restaurants and diners.”
“We’re committed to building an international hospitality platform,” said Alex Macdonald, Velocity Co-Founder and Co-CEO. “With the acquisition of Tab, we strengthen our global leadership position with reservations technology and 100 premier restaurants in Canada.”
The acquisition is part of Velocity’s strategy to develop a vertically integrated stack of hospitality capabilities to heighten the dining experience and connect premier restaurants with the global tastemakers and top hospitality spenders. “We will help restaurants give diners a house account experience anywhere they go,” said Zia Yusuf, Velocity Co-Founder and Co-CEO. “Global spenders seek sought-after tables when they travel, and restaurateurs want to know more about their guests. Our international hospitality platform connects these two constituencies.”
Tab Payments restaurants will now have the option to upgrade to Velocity’s fully POS integrated payment and loyalty platform, which includes a dashboard and customer relationship management (CRM) tools. In conjunction with the Tab Payments transaction, Adam Epstein, Tab Payments Co-Founder, will lead Velocity’s Toronto and Montreal operations. Mike Kimel, Tab Payments Co-Founder and owner of the Chase Restaurant Group, will join the Velocity advisory board. “The Tab team is excited to be joining forces with Velocity,” said Kimel. “Combining forces gives us an opportunity to take our mobile hospitality services to the next level with international reach.”
Specific terms of the transaction have not been disclosed. About Velocity
Velocity is the world’s leading international digital hospitality service, connecting guests with restaurant and nightlife experiences. Velocity partners with the world’s best venues and empowers them to attract, delight, and retain high-value global customers through the power of mobile payments and loyalty. Velocity enables diners to leverage an international dining profile wherever they go, rewarding them for their global hospitality engagement. The service is live in New York, San Francisco, London, Los Angeles, Toronto, and Montreal. Velocity is a Spark portfolio company. www.velocityapp.com
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VC-backed Velocity buys Tab Payments

Velocity Acquires Tab Payments
With Canadian Expansion Velocity Adds Reservations Capability and Over 100 Top Restaurants in Toronto and Montreal
NEW YORK, Oct. 15, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Velocity Mobile LTD. today announced its acquisition of Tab Payments Corp., the leading mobile payments app for tastemaker diners in Canada accepted at over 100 restaurants in Toronto and Montreal. The acquisition further expands Velocity's reach, which now connects premier restaurants with global diners in six major cities in the US, UK, and Canada. Key Highlights:
Velocity has acquired Tab Payments, the leading restaurant mobile payments platform in Canada, with over 100 premier restaurants in Toronto and Montreal. Acquisition includes Tab Payments reservation technology, which will be incorporated into the Velocity platform and will provide partner restaurants with direct access to Velocity's global diners. Tab's portfolio of restaurant partners includes iconic names such as The Chase, Byblos, Terroni, and Joe Beef. Transaction strengthens Velocity's position as the world's leading international mobile payment and loyalty platform for restaurants and nightlife. Acquisition follows the recent acquisition of US-based Cover, part of a strategy to provide restaurants with a single technology platform to meet its needs. Toronto is the fourth largest city in North America; Montreal is the second largest city in Canada and ninth largest city in North America. "Toronto's dining scene has flourished to international acclaim recently, so it's great to see a local company join one with global reach," said Craig Harding, owner of Campagnolo, one of Canada's Top 100 restaurants. "Ultimately, it's a win for Canadian restaurants and diners. "
"We're committed to building an international hospitality platform," said Alex Macdonald, Velocity Co-Founder and Co-CEO. "With the acquisition of Tab, we strengthen our global leadership position with reservations technology and 100 premier restaurants in Canada. "
The acquisition is part of Velocity's strategy to develop a vertically integrated stack of hospitality capabilities to heighten the dining experience and connect premier restaurants with the global tastemakers and top hospitality spenders. "We will help restaurants give diners a house account experience anywhere they go," said Zia Yusuf, Velocity Co-Founder and Co-CEO. "Global spenders seek sought-after tables when they travel, and restaurateurs want to know more about their guests. Our international hospitality platform connects these two constituencies. "
Tab Payments restaurants will now have the option to upgrade to Velocity's fully POS integrated payment and loyalty platform, which includes a dashboard and customer relationship management (CRM) tools. In conjunction with the Tab Payments transaction, Adam Epstein, Tab Payments Co-Founder, will lead Velocity's Toronto and Montreal operations. Mike Kimel, Tab Payments Co-Founder and owner of the Chase Restaurant Group, will join the Velocity advisory board. "The Tab team is excited to be joining forces with Velocity," said Kimel. "Combining forces gives us an opportunity to take our mobile hospitality services to the next level with international reach. "
Specific terms of the transaction have not been disclosed. About Velocity 
Velocity is the world's leading international digital hospitality service, connecting guests with restaurant and nightlife experiences. Velocity partners with the world's best venues and empowers them to attract, delight, and retain high-value global customers through the power of mobile payments and loyalty. Velocity enables diners to leverage an international dining profile wherever they go, rewarding them for their global hospitality engagement. The service is live in New York, San Francisco, London, Los Angeles, Toronto, and Montreal. Velocity is a Spark portfolio company. www.velocityapp.com

Velocity Acquires Tab Payments

New app lets restaurant patrons dine and dash before the bill comes â€” legally
byThe Canadian Press | Story:122603 -Sep 10, 2014 / 12:36 pm
TORONTO - Torontonians are being encouraged to dine and dash at a growing number of top restaurants â€” if they have the right app installed on their smartphones. The made-in-Toronto Tab Payments app frees restaurant patrons from having to wait for the bill at the end of their meals; they can get up and go at their leisure. But they still have to pay for their food and drinks. Users register a credit card with the Tab app and set a default tip. They check into a restaurant when they arrive and input whether they're splitting the bill with other Tab users or plan on covering the whole thing. Then they're free to leave their table anytime, with the restaurant billing their account once they're gone. "It feels kind of liberating not having to wait for the bill, waiting for a bill at a busy restaurant can almost seem like you're shackled to that restaurant when you want to get up and go," says Tab co-founder Adam Epstein. "Right now at the end of your meal there's a lot of fumbling around with a wireless terminal, if you're splitting the bill among six people it can turn into an eight-to-10 minute process. "
There's an increasingly crowded market of apps offering the same service in the U.S., including eBay-owned PayPal, OpenTable and startups Cover, Dash and TabbedOut. The market is still nascent in Canada. Tab and PayPal are offering mobile-based payments at a few dozen restaurants in Toronto, but haven't expanded to other cities yet. With the exception of one restaurant so far, PayPal's app still requires that diners ask for the bill and manually go through the payment process. Tab's functionality is also not as advanced as what's seen down south. For instance, when Tab users are sent a digital copy of their bill post-meal, the receipt isn't itemized, and is only broken down into subtotals for food and drinks, tax and tip. Some of the other mobile payments apps allow users to see their bill get updated in real-time during their visit. If Tab users want to see their bill in detail, they still need to ask for a paper copy before they leave. Epstein says users can't see exactly what they ordered within the Tab app because the point-of-sale technology used by most Canadian restaurants doesn't yet support that feature. But he thinks users won't be deterred by that flaw â€” which he hopes will eventually get fixed â€” and expects mobile payments are ready to take off. "We saw mobile payments were right on the cusp of being â€” I don't want to say a mainstream behaviour â€” but it was definitely right in that gap between extreme early-adopter niche and mainstream," Epstein says. "There were other companies that tried this three or four years ago and frankly, it was too early then. Timing is something that's very, very important in marketing disruptive products to consumers ... So I think a lot of really smart companies â€”maybe us included â€” kind of identified now as the right time. "
Restaurants, too, seem eager to get on board. This week, the mammoth Real Sports Bar and Grill â€” which won international acclaim when ESPN named it the best sports bar in North America â€” was set to begin accepting Tab. Epstein is hoping to expand Tab into a second city by the end of the year; he isn't sure if it'll be in Canada or the U.S. yet. But even if Tab is launched in an American city next, he's eager to get in a second Canadian city within 12 months. "OpenTable is coming (to Canada), we know that, we've emerged certainly as a leader in Toronto and we'd like to continue to emerge as leaders in other major Canadian cities before they come," he says. One of the immediate challenges is simply assuring Tab users that it really is OK for them to get up and leave unannounced at the end of their meal. "We got an email from a customer saying, 'I tried it and the app said I was good to go and I left and it felt weird. But it felt awesome,'" Epstein says. "Once you get over that hurdle of the fact that it is a change in behaviour ... it's a pretty fun thing. "

New app lets restaurant patrons dine and dash before the bill comes âe" legally (Business)

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Hardware and software for restaurant management, bookings, staffing, mobile restaurant payments, inventory management, cloud kitchens, and more. On-demand food delivery services are excluded from this collection.

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Acquired

Tab Payments is a startup that enables mobile payments within fine dining restaurants across Toronto and Montreal.

Date	10/15/2015
Round	Acquired
Amount
Investors	Velocity
Valuation	$XXM
Revenue	0 FY undefined
Sources	3

First funding	10/15/2015
Last Funding	10/15/2015
Investor	Velocity
Rounds	1 Acquired
Board Seats
Type	Corporation
Location	United Kingdom

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