Squarespace Has Acquired Tock for More Than $400M

Known for its user-friendly website design and ecommerce platform, Squarespace has steadily risen in popularity among restaurants eager to beef up their retail offerings, from merch to packaged goods, during what has been an abysmal year for in-person dining. Yesterday, the platform acquired Tock, the reservation system founded by the Alinea Group's Nick Kokonas, in a $400 million-plus transaction.

"Squarespace and Tock have a shared mission of elevating and enabling our customers' success and passion," said Kokonas in a statement on Wednesday. "Combining Tock's unified platform and years of hospitality industry expertise with Squarespace's reach, resources, and design-forward products, in our view, creates an opportunity to deliver a best-in-class solution to millions of entrepreneurs and small businesses around the world."

On Twitter, Kokonas shared that he would remain CEO of Tock after the acquisition. "Our entire team will join with SQSP to support our clients in digitally connecting with the world - elegantly and with the same spirit of innovation we've fervently embraced," he wrote.

Over the course of the pandemic, Tock has aimed to address the challenges facing the hospitality industry. The platform allows two-way messaging, so guests can respond directly to operators when they receive a notice about time limits for their booking, and has enabled contact tracing and contact-free payments. Kokonas and team deployed Tock to Go in early March of 2020, which has helped thousands of restaurants, wineries, and even farms pivot their operations, rebuild sales, lower costs, re-employ staff, and eliminate their dependence on online ordering and predatory third-party delivery apps.

In June, the company launched Tock 2.0, an integrated reservation, takeout, and delivery system with all of the bells and whistles, from COVID-friendly floor-plan customization to advanced waitlisting.

"Ecommerce within the restaurant and hospitality industries is a large and growing market opportunity," said Anthony Casalena, Squarespace Founder & CEO, in a statement. "I've long admired Tock's vision to reimagine how reservation-based businesses connect with their customers."