On the heels of Squarespace getting $300 million in funding (with a $10 billion valuation), Squarespace acquired Tock. We know what Squarespace is but what is Tock? The describe themselves as such: “Reservations, pickup, delivery, contactless payments, and so much more. Tock is here to meet the ever-changing needs of hospitality.”

I’ve literally known about Tock since it was born, and while there marketing quote may not seem particularly defining, I like to think of Tock as OpenTable meets Evite. It’s a also a great Chicago story with almost all of the venture capital behind it also from Chicago. It’s also part of The Alinea Group which literally has one of the best restaurants in the world. I’m getting caught up in the food portion but kudos to the team at Tock as well as the venture funds involved: Valor Equity Partners, Chicago Ventures, Pritzker Group Venture Capital, Origin Ventures, Hyde Park Venture Partners, and Salesforce Ventures.

Let’s pull a snipper from the press release on Squarespace: “Launched in 2014 by Kokonas, co-owner and co-founder of the Alinea Group, Tock powers reservations, table management, carryout operations, and events for more than 7,000 hospitality operators ranging from neighborhood pizzerias to Michelin-starred destinations, wineries, and pop-ups in 30 countries. Tock has processed over $1B prepaid experiences in addition to millions of standard reservations across 200 cities around the world. Recently named one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies in 2021, Tock launched Tock to Go in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to allow restaurants to schedule takeout orders themselves instead of linking out to delivery services.”

Final thought, this is the kind of ecommerce deal that WordPress (Automattic, WP Engine, etc.) should be looking to make, and frankly I wish had done in the case of Tock.