Having a stranger take your credit card into a back room to scan it would be a weird practice for most retailers, but it’s the norm for restaurants.
However, TableSafe is trying to change that, and they’re looking for $11 million to help them get there.
In a Securities and Exchange Commission document filed this week, the Kirkland-based company disclosed that it has raised almost $5 million in a $10.9 million Series D funding round.
This will help the company build updated devices as new EMV (Europay, Mastercard, and Visa) requirements take effect, and as other payment devices like Apple Pay gain traction.
“The funding will be used predominantly for production costs,” TableSafe founder Joe Snell told GeekWire. “We have a healthy sales pipeline that we are working to fulfill by the end of the quarter, so the infusion of funding will help our speed to market.”
TableSafe’s RAIL system looks almost like a regular restaurant check, with the slim card reader and screen tucked inside a black book. The device doesn’t just let users swipe cards though; they can also apply a tip, split their check and email receipts to themselves. Businesses can even enable rewards programs and offer coupons through the device.
Currently, the RAIL system is in use at just a handful of restaurants including Emory’s in Seattle and the Dickie Brennan’s restaurant group in New Orleans. The company is holding off on heavy marketing of the device until the upgraded version is ready to ship.
“We purposely limited our initial product distribution once we prioritized our EMV-enabled RAIL 2,” Snell said. “This allowed us to assess the product functionality, form factor and customer acceptance in a variety of different restaurant formats before launching nationwide.”
The company raised $4.5 million last year to start the overhaul process, but this round will help fund manufacturing and marketing as the company ramps up production of the RAIL 2 system for release later this year.
“The RAIL 2 completes the dining experience enabling the wait staff to focus on the customer,” said Snell, the former CEO of Tamarac and Union-Street. “We’ve designed the platform to allow the consumer to complete the entire payment process at their table while holding on to their credit card at all times, putting the security back in their hands.”
The system has already seen a number of preorders from restaurant chains and industry resellers.
Investment funds, coming from a number of undisclosed angel investors, will also be used to hire new people. The company currently has about 35 employees but is looking to expand by as much as 40 percent leading up to the product launch later this year.
