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Kickfin provides a comprehensive tip management software solution designed specifically for the hospitality industry. Their platform automates the complex process of tip calculation and distribution, enabling businesses to digitize tip-outs and disburse funds to employees' bank accounts in real-time. This system eliminates the need for cash and manual reconciliation, streamlining operations and ensuring rapid, accurate payments.
The company emerged from an understanding of the inefficiencies and challenges associated with traditional tip payment methods within restaurants and other service-oriented businesses. Recognizing the logistical burdens of cash handling and the delays in payment, the founders developed a digital infrastructure to modernize this critical aspect of employee compensation. This approach aimed to improve both operational efficiency for employers and financial immediacy for workers.
The software primarily serves businesses within the hospitality sector, including restaurants, bars, and other establishments where tipping is prevalent. Kickfin's vision is to transform how gratuities are managed, ensuring that employees receive their earnings promptly and conveniently, while simultaneously providing businesses with a more transparent and less labor-intensive system for tip administration. Their focus is on delivering financial fluidity and operational simplicity to an industry often reliant on traditional payment structures.
Kickfin has raised $6.0M across 1 funding round.
Kickfin has raised $6.0M in total across 1 funding round.
Kickfin is a leading digital tip management platform for the restaurant and hospitality industry, automating tip pool calculations and enabling instant cashless payouts directly to employees' bank accounts.[1][2][3] It serves restaurants, bars, breweries, nightclubs, cafes, and similar venues, solving pain points like manual cash handling, tip calculation errors, theft risks, compliance challenges, and delayed employee payments in a cashless economy.[1][2][3][4] By integrating with POS systems such as Toast, Square, SkyTab, Genius POS, and Union, Kickfin reduces administrative time, cuts labor costs, and boosts employee satisfaction—evidenced by its ranking as the fastest-growing restaurant tech company on the 2024 Inc. 5000 (top 3%) and 2025 Deloitte Technology Fast 500.[3][6]
The platform's growth momentum is strong, with $6 million in total funding (including a recent $6 million round), 141 employees, and $29.6 million in revenue, headquartered in Austin, Texas.[4] Features like real-time POS data syncing, customizable tip pool logic (factoring shifts, hours, sales), digital tracking, and payroll integrations drive adoption, helping operators save hours—e.g., Bar Louie cut tip calculation time from hours to minutes via Toast integration, saving 15,000 labor hours annually.[3][6]
Kickfin was founded in 2017 in Austin, Texas, by co-founders Brian Hassan (co-CEO) and Justin, who identified the core problem during a casual dining experience.[2][7] Spotting an armored car delivering cash to a restaurant, they learned from the manager that it was solely for end-of-shift tip payouts despite most payments being card-based—this inefficiency, expense, and security risk sparked the idea for a cashless alternative.[7]
Early traction built on this insight, evolving into a full platform with POS integrations and advanced features. Pivotal moments include partnerships like the recent Union integration for seamless tip pooling and payouts, plus recognitions on Inc. 5000 (top 10 Southwest companies) and Deloitte Fast 500, underscoring rapid scaling in restaurant tech.[1][3][6][7]
Kickfin stands out in the crowded tip management space (competitors: Hifive, Grazzy, TiPJAR, TipHaus) through purpose-built features for hospitality.[2][3]
Kickfin rides the cashless tipping wave in hospitality, fueled by declining cash usage, rising card/digital payments, and tightening tip regulations (e.g., fair distribution laws).[1][3] Timing is ideal amid labor shortages—restaurants struggle with retention, and instant payouts address this by improving satisfaction without cash handling costs or risks.[4][5]
Market forces favor it: POS dominance (Toast, Square ecosystems) enables sticky integrations, while post-pandemic efficiency demands amplify demand for automation.[1][6] Kickfin influences the ecosystem by setting standards for tip tech—leading growth lists and partnering with venue OS like Union (serving 1,500+ spots)—pushing rivals toward real-time, compliant solutions and modernizing an industry long reliant on cash.[1][3]
Kickfin's trajectory points to expanded dominance in restaurant fintech, with deeper POS embeds, international growth, and AI-enhanced pooling as next frontiers amid regulatory flux and labor tech booms.[3][6] Trends like mobile ordering integration and predictive analytics for tips will shape it, potentially evolving into full back-office suites.
As the only Deloitte Fast 500 tip specialist, Kickfin exemplifies how targeted automation transforms hospitality drudgery into efficiency—poised to "kick cash to the curb" industry-wide, starting from that armored car epiphany.[3][7]
Kickfin has raised $6.0M across 1 funding round. Most recently, it raised $6.0M Series A in June 2022.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 1, 2022 | $6M Series A | — | CRV, Future Shape, Gradient Ventures, Highbury Group, PSG, Rubicon VC, Silverton Partners, Tiger Global Management, Tribe Capital, Tusk Venture Partners, Upfront Ventures | Announced |
Kickfin has raised $6.0M in total across 1 funding round.
Kickfin's investors include CRV, Future Shape, Gradient Ventures, Highbury Group, PSG, Rubicon VC, Silverton Partners, Tiger Global Management, Tribe Capital, Tusk Venture Partners, Upfront Ventures.
