Toast Acquires Sling to Expand its Team Management Suite With Employee Scheduling and Communications

Rhea-AI Summary

Toast (NYSE: TOST) has acquired Sling, an employee scheduling and management solution, to enhance its team management offerings for restaurants. Sling's features, including scheduling templates and in-app messaging, aim to improve labor cost management and employee satisfaction. This acquisition builds on a partnership established in April 2021 and further empowers Toast's services for approximately 11 million restaurant employees in the U.S. The integration is expected to streamline communication and operational efficiency within the restaurant industry.

Positive

• Acquisition of Sling enhances Toast's Team Management Suite, improving labor cost management.
• Expansion of Toast's offerings to approximately 11 million restaurant employees in the U.S.
• Strong customer adoption of Sling since the partnership began in April 2021.

Negative

• None.

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Toast (NYSE: TOST), the all-in-one digital technology platform built for restaurants, today announced that it has acquired Sling, a leading employee scheduling, communication and management solution. Through features including scheduling templates, in-app messaging and multi-location team management, Sling helps restaurants staff more efficiently and better manage labor costs, and helps increase employee job satisfaction.

The addition of Sling adds to Toast’s growing suite of Toast Payroll & Team Management products, including Toast Payroll, Toast Tips Manager and Toast Pay Card & PayOut. Through its Team Management Suite, Toast can empower restaurants to simplify scheduling and communication across their team, control their labor costs, and pay employees faster through one integrated platform.

Sling and Toast originally established a partnership in April 2021. Customers have responded positively with strong adoption of Sling as part of Toast’s integrated digital platform.

“Great employees are what make restaurants run,” said Aman Narang, COO and Co-Founder of Toast. “By adding Sling to the Toast platform, we can provide a more comprehensive suite of team management products purpose-built for restaurants, from new hire onboarding to payroll processing, and now the ability to schedule shifts across the team. Our customers will benefit from the ability to simplify communication across their team, control their labor costs and efficiently manage their teams through one integrated platform. We're delighted to welcome the Sling team to the Toast family.”

A strong relationship between restaurants and their employees is crucial. Roughly half of restaurant operators expect recruiting and retaining employees to be their top challenge in 2022¹, making it critical for every restaurant to efficiently manage their limited staffing and deepen the connection to employees. With workers across the nation increasingly expecting more from their employers, restaurants who offer Sling as part of the Toast Team Management Suite can stand out in the crowded hiring market with a differentiated employee experience.

The addition of Sling will extend the depth and breadth of Toast’s effort to serve the approximately 11 million restaurant employees² in the United States with the Sling mobile app³, allowing employees to easily view and swap shifts, manage their availability remotely and receive real-time communication. Restaurant employees using the existing Toast Team Management Suite have greater visibility into their pay and benefits along with opportunities for increased financial stability; the addition of Sling will provide employees more control of their schedule and opportunity to establish themselves as a valued contributor to their restaurant team.

“Empowering restaurant employees was central to our founding vision. We are thrilled to join Toast and more deeply leverage our employee scheduling, communication and management capabilities to help restaurants increase team efficiency and lower labor costs. This is a great milestone for all the Sling employees who have helped us grow into a robust solution over the past seven years. We're excited to continue innovating on restaurant employee experience as part of Toast,” said Helgi Hermannsson, Sling CEO and founder.

To learn more about Toast and/or schedule a personalized customer demo visit https://pos.toasttab.com/products/restaurant-employee-scheduling-software, and to learn more about Sling, visit Sling by Toast.

About Toast
Toast [NYSE: TOST] is a cloud-based, all-in-one digital technology platform purpose-built for the entire restaurant community. Toast provides a single platform of software as a service, or SaaS, products and financial technology solutions that give restaurants everything they need to run their business across point of sale, operations, digital ordering and delivery, marketing and loyalty, and team management. By serving as the restaurant operating system across dine-in, takeout, and delivery channels, Toast helps restaurants streamline operations, increase revenue and deliver amazing guest experiences. For more information, visit www.toasttab.com.

Toast Pay Cards are issued by Sutton Bank, Member FDIC, pursuant to license by Mastercard. Mastercard is a registered trademark, and the circles design is a trademark of Mastercard.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release contains “forward-looking statements,” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the context of the statement and generally arise when Toast or its management is discussing its beliefs, estimates or expectations. Such statements generally include the words “believes,” “plans,” “intends,” “targets,” “may,” “could,” “should,” “will,” “expects,” “estimates,” “suggests,” “anticipates,” “outlook,” “continues,” or similar expressions. These statements are not historical facts or guarantees of future performance, but represent the beliefs of Toast and its management at the time the statements were made regarding future events which are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside Toast’s control. Actual results and outcomes may differ materially from what is expressed or forecast in such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements regarding the expected results of the acquisition of Sling on Toast’s financial performance and the benefits of the Sling integration on Toast’s business and operations.

The forward-looking statements contained in this release are also subject to other risks and uncertainties, including those more fully described in Toast’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including in the sections entitled “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations'' in Toast’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021, Toast’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended March 31, 2022, and Toast’s subsequent SEC filings. Toast can give no assurance that the plans, intentions, expectations or strategies as reflected in or suggested by those forward-looking statements will be attained or achieved. The forward-looking statements in this release are based on information available to Toast as of the date hereof, and Toast disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by law. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing Toast’s views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.

TOST-CORP

¹National Restaurant Association “State of the Restaurant Industry 2022” Report.
²Bureau of Labor Statistics, Industry at a Glance - March 2022.
³App available on both iOS and Android.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220707005096/en/

Media: media@toasttab.com

Investors: IR@toasttab.com

Source: Toast, Inc.

FAQ

What is the purpose of Toast's acquisition of Sling?

The acquisition aims to enhance Toast's Team Management offerings, improving employee scheduling and management for restaurants.

How will Sling's features benefit Toast customers?

Sling's scheduling templates and in-app messaging will help restaurants manage labor costs more efficiently and improve employee satisfaction.

When did Toast and Sling initially partner?

Toast and Sling formed their partnership in April 2021.

How many restaurant employees in the U.S. will benefit from the Sling acquisition?

Approximately 11 million restaurant employees stand to benefit from the integration of Sling into Toast's platform.

What are the expected impacts of the Sling acquisition on Toast's business?

The acquisition is expected to improve operational efficiency and control labor costs for restaurants, ultimately enhancing the employee experience.