Toast Seeks a Boston Restaurant Operator to Build, Run, and Innovate Together

Toast Lab to provide strategic capital, technology, and expertise to new restaurant location

BOSTON — June 16, 2026 — In 2013, a Cambridge coffee shop named Barismo took a chance on a young technology company, moved by the founders’ commitment to immerse themselves in the business and build hardware that made it easier for them to serve their customers. In the process, Barismo became the first-ever Toast customer, with 171,000 other operators following and choosing Toast for its innovative technology that’s built for their busiest moments. Back in 2013, Toast’s founders were right there in the coffee shop, getting to know the business and even mounting their new hardware themselves. Now, Toast (NYSE: TOST) is returning to where it all began, today announcing one of its most ambitious, hands-on collaborations yet: Toast Lab.

In a new initiative, Toast will combine funding and expertise to collaborate with a restaurant in the Greater Boston area. Working closely with an operator, the collaboration will co-develop, refine, and pressure-test new and existing Toast products — and open a new restaurant location. By combining great food and hospitality with the full range of Toast innovation and technology in an ongoing collaboration, Toast Lab will better inform exactly what it takes to build a busy and successful business today. As part of the collaboration, the restaurant operator will receive strategic capital, early access to new Toast products, direct mentorship from Toast's executive leadership team, and close proximity to Toast support as they build a new restaurant together from the ground up.

“Our earliest customers were instrumental in shaping Toast’s trajectory, giving us the feedback we needed to make our technology better,” said Kelly Esten, Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Operating Officer of Enterprise at Toast. “Toast Lab is a formal return to that instinct, inspired by our belief that the best restaurant technology gets built when operators and product teams are working side-by-side to create something new together. We're looking for an operator who wants to build their next great restaurant, and we're excited to let that restaurant inform where our technology goes next."

An open call for submissions runs today through July 14, 2026. Applicants will be evaluated on criteria, including:

• High-Volume Operational Excellence: An established operator with a proven track record of managing complex, full-service concepts that garner consistent guest demand, especially during their busiest moments.

• Innovation-First Philosophy: A forward-thinking leader who’s an early adopter and pioneer of industry trends and sees technology as a strategic advantage.

• Boston-Based Operation: An operator looking to develop a new restaurant in the Greater Boston area.

The selected restaurant will be announced later in 2026. From there, the restaurant operator will work with Toast to go all-in on Toast technology, collaborating directly alongside Toast’s product teams as new tools and approaches are built and rolled out, while being backed by funding, mentorship, and access to Toast’s full suite of products and services. Official rules, eligibility criteria, and application details can be found at pos.toasttab.com/lab.