Philly-based hospitality industry startup xtraCHEF acquired by Boston’s Toast

A year after the two tech-enabled restaurant businesses formed a partnership, Boston-based cloud platform Toast has acquired Philly-born accounts payable automation and back-office business intelligence solution xtraCHEF.

The Philly company offers a suite of back office tools for restaurants, including accounts payable automation and inventory management. It works for restaurants of any size.

Last summer, in the wake of the COVID-19, xtraCHEF released two new free offerings, called Sync and xtraCASH, that helped restaurants streamline their operations during the challenging regulations. xtraCHEF had previously integrated with Toast to enable cost-of-goods sold reporting, budgets and inventory management features for restaurants. The company also introduced those two new products to Toast customers as part of the preferred partnership agreement.

A year later, Toast has acquired xtraCHEF for an undisclosed amount. The partnership means restaurateurs will be able to access xtraCHEF’s line-item-level cost data with Toast’s sales data to get insights into profitability by menu item. Restaurateurs will also have access to automation and intelligence tools that streamline repeatable tasks including bookkeeping, managing inventory and tracking margins.

“Restaurant operators work far too hard to waste time and money,” Andy Schwartz, CEO and cofounder of xtraCHEF, said in a statement. “xtraCHEF’s automated tools and dynamic, interactive dashboards make it easy for busy restaurateurs to track, compare and control costs. Now, by combining Toast’s in-depth point-of-sale data with xtraCHEF’s automated line-item details on restaurant spending, operators on the Toast platform have a true end-to-end view of their financial health.”

The Philly-area cofounder said that he’s looking forward to joining the toast team and “leveraging the many opportunities that lie ahead” for the industry. Along with Schwartz, Cofounder and CTO Bhavik Patel will remain with the company in their current roles, as  it becomes xtraCHEF by Toast. (Check out Schwartz’s recent guest post about making Election Day a paid company holiday.)

A request for comment on if the rest of the company’s team will be affected by the acquisition was not yet returned. The company had 30 employees, as of July 2020.

“Together with xtraCHEF, we immediately deepen our capabilities in automating cost management for restaurants, helping restaurateurs reclaim time previously spent navigating complex, manual processes and better understand their profitability, down to the menu item,” Chris Comparato, CEO of Toast, said in a statement.