Toast, a U.S.-based restaurant management fintech platform, announced on Thursday it has formed a partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) to help provide customers with access to funds made available through the $28.6 billion Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF). Toast reported that the partnership will provide its customers with a “simplified” application process for RRF grant applications by May 2021.
While sharing details about the Fund, Nick DeLeonardis, SVP and GM of Payments, Lending, and Payroll at Toast, stated that since March 2020, he and his team have written letters to Congress, as well as actively lobbied to help secure funding for the restaurant industry, which has been heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Our actions helped enact meaningful change, and allowed us to support our customer community when they needed it most. We’re thrilled to partner with the SBA to deliver access to critical funding for restaurants as the industry approaches recovery in the coming months.”
Toast further revealed that for the first 21 days of the SBA grant program, the SBA will prioritize processing and awarding funds to businesses that are at least 51 percent owned and controlled by women, veterans, or socially and economically disadvantaged individuals. Applications from businesses that do not qualify for this priority period will be submitted for review by the SBA following the priority period.
Launched in 2013, Toast claims that it empowers restaurants of all sizes to build great teams, increase revenue, improve operations, and delight guests. The company further explained:
“We pair our deep understanding of the restaurant industry with powerful cloud based software and restaurant-grade hardware to deliver an intuitive, all-in-one platform, across point of sale, guest marketing, digital ordering & delivery, and payroll and HR.”