inKind
inKind is a two-sided restaurant commerce platform that provides upfront capital to 7,700+ U.S. restaurants in exchange for food and beverage credits, which 4.5M+ app users redeem for up to 20% cash back on dining.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2016
- HeadquartersAustin, United States
- Headcount101–250
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingServices
What inKind does
inKind operates a two-sided restaurant commerce platform that connects individual diners with independent and enterprise restaurant operators across the United States. On the consumer side, the inKind mobile app (iOS and Android, 4.5M+ downloads, 4.9-star rating across 75,000+ reviews) enables diners to discover restaurants and earn up to 20% cash back on dining bills, with an optional inKind Pass subscription tier for enhanced rewards. Products include inKind Cash (network-wide prepaid credits with a perpetual paid portion and a 3-year promotional portion), House Accounts (merchant-specific prepaid credits), inKind Cash Back rewards earned through dining, referrals, and an ambassador program, plus a Bulk Gifting channel for corporate buyers.
On the merchant side, inKind Capital (inkindcapital.com) deploys upfront growth capital to restaurant operators in exchange for food and beverage credits, which are then distributed to diners at a discount through the app. inKind monetizes via the spread between capital provided and credit value redeemed, subscription fees from inKind Pass, commissions on redemption transactions, and revenue from bulk gifting and gift card programs. The platform integrates with 20+ point-of-sale systems (Toast, Square, Lightspeed, SpotOn, Oracle Micros, Aloha NCR, Omnivore, and others), SevenRooms for reservations, Restaurant365 for back-office, Salesforce for CRM, and Stripe for payments processing. Named enterprise customers include José Andrés Group, MINA Group, Ethan Stowell Restaurants, alongside 20 Michelin-starred venues and 50 James Beard Award nominee restaurants, with a total base of 7,700+ restaurant partners.
The company, headquartered in Austin, Texas (600 Congress Ave, Ste 1700), is led by CEO Johann Moonesinghe and reports 101-250 employees. inKind was founded in 2014 (one source references 2016), legally operates as inKind Cards, Inc. (Delaware), and has cumulatively raised approximately $770 million, including a $450 million equity-and-debt round in February 2026 led by Magnetar and a $320 million senior-and-mezzanine debt commitment from Liberty Mutual Investments in July 2026. Since founding, the platform has deployed over $600 million in capital to more than 6,000 restaurants, achieved over 100% annual gross order volume growth for four consecutive years, and projects 2025 GOV above $350 million. Recent strategic priorities include expanding the restaurant network by an additional 10,000 locations, launching AI-native demand tools for operators, and exploring digital-asset payment partnerships (e.g., Dogecoin Foundation).
inKind firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- inKind
- Legal name
- inKind Cards, Inc.
- Website
- https://inkind.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2016
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 101–250 employees
- Short description
- inKind is a two-sided restaurant commerce platform that provides upfront capital to 7,700+ U.S. restaurants in exchange for food and beverage credits, which 4.5M+ app users redeem for up to 20% cash back on dining.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
inKind industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Restaurant commerce and merchant financing
- akta.pro primary industry
- Open Banking, Account Aggregation & Payment Initiation APIs (BPAMAFAJ)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Embedded Payments (Pay-ins, Pay-outs, Wallets) (FSAGALAB), Embedded Deposit Accounts & Digital Wallet Infrastructure (FSAGALAE)
Keywords
Where inKind is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Austin
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
inKind business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Restaurant Financing: inKind provides restaurants with upfront capital in exchange for food and beverage credits. The credits are sold to diners at a discount through the app, generating revenue through the spread between capital provided and credit value redeemed.
- inKind Cash Purchases: Diners prepay for food and beverage credit to inKind's network of restaurants. The prepaid amount (Paid Portion) never expires while promotional portions have a 3-year expiration.
- inKind Pass Subscription: Monthly or yearly subscription model where subscribers earn up to 20% back on dining charges paid via credit card through the app
- Rewards Program Commissions: inKind earns a commission from restaurant partners when diners use the app to pay and earn cash back rewards
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Free App Access |
| Subscription | Monthly | inKind Pass Subscription |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | inKind Cash (Prepaid Credits) |
| Transaction based/ take rate | Multi-year contract | Restaurant Partner Program |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels7 records
inKind product offering
Product offeringCore offering
inKind operates a restaurant commerce platform that provides upfront growth capital to restaurants in exchange for food and beverage credits, which are then distributed to consumers through a mobile app offering up to 20% cash back on dining. The platform connects over 4.5 million diners with 7,700+ partner restaurants, integrating with 20+ POS systems to enable seamless in-app bill payment. Revenue is generated through the spread on restaurant credit sales, subscription fees (inKind Pass), and commissions on dining transactions.
Product overview
inKind operates as a restaurant commerce enablement platform that combines a consumer-facing mobile dining rewards app with a business financing solution for restaurants. The core platform consists of the inKind App (which offers up to 20% back on dining bills), inKind Capital (which provides restaurants with growth capital in exchange for food and beverage credits), inKind Cash (network-wide prepaid credits), and House Accounts (merchant-specific prepaid credits). The ecosystem includes inKind Pass (a subscription-based rewards tier), inKind Cash Back (the rewards earning mechanism), and Bulk Gifting (for business users). The company also operates inKind Impact and the inKind Foundation as social impact initiatives. The platform integrates with numerous POS systems (Toast, Square, Lightspeed, SpotOn, and others), reservation platforms (SevenRooms), and various restaurant technology solutions. inKind's model connects nearly five million diners with over 7,700 restaurants, providing capital infusion to restaurant operators while offering consumers dining rewards.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- inKind App Mobile dining rewards app for individual consumers (iOS and Android, 4.5M+ downloads, 4.9 rating). Allows diners to discover restaurants, pay their bill through the app, and earn up to 20% cash back on dining spend.
- inKind Capital Restaurant financing platform that provides multi-unit restaurant groups with upfront growth capital in exchange for food and beverage credits sold through the inKind app. Targets operators needing non-dilutive expansion and renovation capital.
- inKind Pass Monthly or yearly subscription service for individual diners that provides up to 20% cash back on dining charges paid through the inKind app, plus access to exclusive perks, offers, and events.
- inKind Cash Prepaid food and beverage credit redeemable at any participating venue in the inKind network. Combines a paid portion (never expires) with a promotional portion (expires three years from purchase).
- House Accounts Prepaid credit issued by and redeemable only at a single specific restaurant merchant. The merchant is the issuer and is responsible for redeeming house accounts and compensating users if the merchant ceases operations.
- Bulk Gifting Business gifting solution that lets companies purchase inKind credits in bulk for employee rewards, client gifts, or corporate events via the dedicated business.inkind.com storefront.
- Gift Card Program Program in which inKind promotes and sells gift cards on behalf of restaurant merchants, representing dollar amounts redeemable for goods and services at the merchant's establishment.
Quantifiable outcome
- 100%+ annual growth in gross order volume for 4 consecutive years (2020-2024)
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use inKind
Customer profileNamed customers6 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
inKind technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration28 records
AI capability2 records
Feature3 records
inKind partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- ToastcorePoint of sale (POS) integration partner allowing seamless payment processing at Toast-equipped restaurants.
- SpotOncorePoint of sale solution integration for restaurant payment processing.
- LightspeedcorePOS integration partner for restaurant payment processing.
- SquarecorePoint of sale solution integration for restaurant payment processing.
- Oracle MicroscoreEnterprise POS integration partner for restaurant payment processing.
- Aloha NCRcorePOS integration partner for restaurant payment processing.
- SevenRoomscoreRestaurant reservations platform integration for booking management.
- OmnivorecorePOS integration partner connecting restaurants to inKind platform.
- Hedley & BennettminorRestaurant apparel and tools partner with co-marketing opportunities.
- TipHausminorTip distribution solution partner for restaurant operations.
- Restaurant365minorEnterprise restaurant management software partner.
Scale indicators10 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights6 records
inKind competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- OpenTable: OpenTable is the leading restaurant reservation and discovery platform with diner relationships and restaurant marketing tools. It is directly comparable to inKind's discovery + rewards marketplace model targeting the same diner and restaurant audience.
- Resy (American Express): Resy is a reservation platform owned by American Express, focused on premium and experiential dining. It competes head-to-head with inKind for high-end restaurant relationships and diner engagement, particularly in Michelin-tier venues.
- Tock (American Express): Tock is a reservation, ticketing, and prepaid dining platform also owned by American Express. Its prepaid-dinner model and focus on chef-driven restaurants is highly analogous to inKind's House Accounts and credit-purchase offerings.
- Groupon: Groupon's historical dining deals business directly mirrors inKind's discounted-credit restaurant model — issuing credits at a discount to diners in exchange for guaranteed future restaurant revenue. While Groupon has wound down many dining offerings, the model heritage is highly comparable.
Broad incumbents
- Toast: Toast is a leading restaurant POS and fintech platform serving tens of thousands of U.S. restaurants with payments, capital, and operations software. It is a broad incumbent with overlapping restaurant-capital and software functionality and is an inKind integration partner.
- Square (Block): Square offers payments, capital (Square Loans), and restaurant software, and is an inKind POS integration partner. As a broad incumbent in restaurant commerce and embedded finance, it competes for both diner engagement and restaurant fintech wallet share.
- Yelp: Yelp is a major restaurant discovery and reviews platform with diner reach. While it does not offer capital, it competes for diner attention and discovery in the same restaurant search and engagement category as inKind.
- DoorDash: DoorDash is the dominant U.S. food delivery and restaurant commerce platform with diner relationships and restaurant fintech offerings (DoorDash Capital). It is a broad incumbent in restaurant commerce that competes for both diner engagement and restaurant capital deployment.
Emerging players
- Brex: Brex provides corporate cards and embedded financial products including spend management and capital. It is comparable as a fintech addressing SMB capital and payment pain points, intersecting with inKind Capital's restaurant underwriting business.
- Pipe: Pipe operates a revenue-based financing marketplace for SaaS and other businesses, converting future revenue into upfront capital. Its underlying mechanism — monetizing future revenue streams by selling them at a discount — is highly analogous to inKind's restaurant credit-purchase model.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks1 record
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
inKind social profiles
Digital presenceinKind compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance3 records
inKind financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
inKind leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles7 records
inKind funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds17 records
Investors11 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
inKind M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A1 record
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about inKind
What does inKind do?
inKind operates a restaurant commerce platform that provides upfront growth capital to restaurants in exchange for food and beverage credits, which are then distributed to consumers through a mobile app offering up to 20% cash back on dining. The platform connects over 4.5 million diners with 7,700+ partner restaurants, integrating with 20+ POS systems to enable seamless in-app bill payment. Revenue is generated through the spread on restaurant credit sales, subscription fees (inKind Pass), and commissions on dining transactions.
Is inKind a public or private company?
inKind is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was inKind founded?
inKind was founded in 2016. It employs 101 to 250 people.
Where is inKind based?
inKind is headquartered in Austin, United States, in the North America region.
How does inKind make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Restaurant Financing is the primary driver. The others are inKind Cash Purchases, inKind Pass Subscription and rewards Program Commissions.
Who are inKind's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are OpenTable, Resy (American Express), Tock (American Express) and Groupon. Broad incumbents are Toast, Square (Block), Yelp and DoorDash. Emerging players are Brex and Pipe.
Does inKind have an API?
No public API is recorded for inKind.
What industry is inKind in?
inKind's product category is Restaurant commerce and merchant financing. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAMAFAJ, Open Banking, Account Aggregation & Payment Initiation APIs, with a secondary code of FSAGALAB, Embedded Payments (Pay-ins, Pay-outs, Wallets).