Grateful

What Grateful does

Grateful (legally Grtfl Ltd., registered in England, Registration No. 13870259) is a UK-based SaaS company founded in 2022 that provides cashless tipping and automated tronc management software to the hospitality industry. Its platform targets hotels, restaurants, pubs, nightclubs, cafes, competitive socialising venues, and salons, serving enterprise multi-site operators (Jumeirah, Hyatt, Radisson Hotel Group, Hand Picked Hotels, Cherry Equity Partners) as well as mid-market and SMB hospitality businesses. The company is built around compliance with the UK Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023, acting as an independent troncmaster to protect the National Insurance exemption status of tip distributions and delivering reported employer NIC savings of 13.8%.

The core product suite comprises Tronc & Compliance (automated tip pooling with HMRC-ready reporting, independent troncmaster governance, payroll integrations, and multi-site management) and Direct Tipping (cashless QR-code-based tips with instant employee payouts). These are complemented by STASH, an embedded automated savings tool that splits tips between spending and FSCS-protected savings accounts held by Griffin Bank via the Sync platform; Insights, an analytics dashboard for tronc patterns and anomalies; and Smart Rewards, an upcoming AI-driven performance recognition module. The platform integrates with 25+ EPOS, payroll, workforce management, and property management systems including Fourth Hospitality, Epos Now, Deputy, Planday, Toast, Xero, Sage, Oracle Simphony, and Zonal. The technology is GDPR-compliant (ICO registration ZB678463) and uses Cloudflare, HubSpot, and Google Analytics infrastructure.

Grateful generates revenue through two primary streams: a flat monthly fee per location or per recipient for managed tronc services (no percentage of service charge, with 100% of tronc monies distributed to employees), and a small incremental per-transaction fee on Direct Tipping that is charged to the customer rather than the business. STASH is bundled at no additional cost, with revenue mechanics through the Sync/Griffin partnership not publicly disclosed. Distribution is primarily direct B2B enterprise sales with a consultative, demo-driven motion, supplemented by a self-serve PLG funnel for SMB Direct Tipping and channel referrals through integration partners. The company raised £1.5 million in seed funding from Calculus Capital in October 2025 and reports platform metrics of 67,000+ users, £120m+ tips processed annually, and 5.7m+ total transactions.

Name

Grateful

Legal name

Grtfl Ltd.

Website

https://grateful.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Grateful provides cashless tipping and automated tronc management SaaS for UK hospitality operators, acting as an independent troncmaster to ensure Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 compliance. Its platform integrates with 25+ EPOS, payroll, and workforce systems to serve hotels, restaurants, and competitive socialising venues.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Hospitality Tipping & Tronc Management Software

NAICS

Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (52232)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Creator Monetization Tools (Subscriptions, Tips, Merch) (BPAMALAH)

akta.pro secondary industry

Creator Tipping, Donations & Micro-Payments (MPACAFAB)

Keywords

• Hospitality tipping software
• Tronc management platform
• Cashless tipping solutions
• Hospitality payroll compliance
• Tip pooling software

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Tronc Management (Per Location / Per Recipient): Flat fee per location or per recipient for fully managed tronc services including platform, compliance management, independent troncmaster oversight, employee app, and communications. No percentage of service charge taken. 100% of tronc monies are distributed to employees.
2. Direct Tipping (Transaction Fee): Small incremental fee per transaction charged to the customer (not the business). No setup costs, no contracts. Processing cost is by default put onto the customer. No cost incurred by the hospitality business.
3. STASH (Bundled Value-Add): Savings tool bundled into both Direct Tipping and Tronc at no extra cost to employers or employees. Revenue model for Grateful not disclosed; STASH is powered by Sync.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Grateful provides cloud-based cashless tipping and tronc management software to UK hospitality operators. Its platform automates the full tip lifecycle from collection (QR/NFC, EPOS) through compliant distribution (independent troncmaster governance under the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023), payroll integration, employee app transparency, and bundled savings via STASH (FSCS-protected accounts with Griffin bank). Pricing is per-location/per-recipient subscriptions for tronc plus transaction fees on direct tipping.

Product overview

Grateful is a unified cashless tipping and tronc management platform for the hospitality industry, comprising a modular suite of products. The core offerings are Tronc & Compliance (automated tip pooling with HMRC compliance and NIC savings protection) and Direct Tipping (cashless digital tipping via QR codes). These core products are supplemented by add-on modules: STASH (automatic savings split from tips into FSCS-protected accounts), Insights (real-time analytics dashboard for tronc data), and the forthcoming Smart Rewards (automated performance recognition and incentives). The platform integrates with leading EPOS, workforce management, property management, and payroll systems to automate the full tip lifecycle from collection through distribution to payroll. The platform serves as an independent troncmaster, providing transparency to employees and compliance assurance to operators under the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Tronc & Compliance: Automated tip pooling and tronc management platform with independent troncmaster oversight, HMRC audit-ready reporting, Tipping Act compliance, payroll integration, multi-site support, and NIC savings protection.
• Direct Tipping
• STASH
• Insights
• Smart Rewards

Products and services

• Tronc & Compliance Cloud-based tronc management platform for UK hospitality operators that automates tip distribution, applies configurable allocation rules across shifts and sites, provides independent troncmaster governance to preserve HMRC-compliant NIC exemption status, integrates with payroll and EPOS systems, and delivers audit-ready reporting under the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023.
• Direct Tipping Cashless digital tipping module that lets customers tip individual staff members directly via QR or NFC codes, with instant payouts to employee accounts and a small transaction fee charged to the customer rather than the business. Designed for small hospitality operators and individual service providers including taxi drivers, yoga instructors, and salon staff; same-day self-serve onboarding available.
• STASH Embedded savings add-on that automatically splits each tip and tronc payment between spending and a high-interest, FSCS-protected savings account (up to £120,000 protection) held by Griffin bank via Sync. Employees set their preferred savings percentage once and the platform handles the rest, with no additional cost to employers or employees.
• Insights Analytics dashboard providing real-time visibility into tronc distributions, team earnings, and compliance data by site, team, and time period. Surfaces patterns, risks, and anomalies to help operators make data-driven decisions about tip allocation and multi-site operations.

Quantifiable outcome

• Employer NIC savings of 13.8% on distributed tips; employee NIC savings of 8% on tips received through tronc
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers26 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration29 records

Feature10 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Fourth HospitalitycoreTechnology or IntegrationEnd-to-end workforce and inventory management platform built specifically for hospitality operators. Fourth integration allows tronc data to flow directly into Fourth's workforce management and payroll systems, enabling automated tronc calculations and seamless payroll processing.
• Epos NowcoreTechnology or IntegrationCloud-based EPOS system helping hospitality businesses manage sales, stock, and staff. Integration with Grateful allows tips to be split off at the point of sale or end of the night, with tip income flowing to the Grateful platform for distribution.
• DeputycoreTechnology or IntegrationWorkforce scheduling and time-tracking platform for hospitality teams. Integration provides shift and rota data to Grateful's tronc calculation engine, enabling accurate tip allocation based on hours worked.
• PlandaycoreTechnology or IntegrationEmployee scheduling platform that makes rota management smarter for shift-based hospitality teams. Provides workforce data to Grateful for tip allocation calculations.
• ToastcoreTechnology or IntegrationUS-born restaurant platform combining POS, payroll, and operations tools. Toast integration allows Grateful to pull sales and service data for accurate tip calculations.
• XerocoreTechnology or IntegrationAccounting software integration enables tronc data to flow directly into Xero payroll, streamlining financial reporting and reconciliation for hospitality operators.
• SagecoreTechnology or IntegrationSage payroll integration enables automated tronc distribution data to feed directly into Sage payroll systems, reducing manual data entry and errors.
• Oracle SimphonycoreTechnology or IntegrationEnterprise-grade EPOS solution for complex, high-volume restaurant and hospitality operations. Integration enables enterprise operators to split tips at the POS level and route to Grateful platform.
• Sync (STASH Savings Platform)coreTechnology or IntegrationSync powers the STASH automated savings feature. Employees open savings accounts through Grateful app; funds are held by Griffin (UK-authorised bank) and protected by FSCS up to £120,000. STASH splits tips between spending and savings automatically.
• Griffin BankcoreTechnology or IntegrationUK-authorised bank holding STASH savings funds. FSCS-protected up to £120,000 per person. Griffin partnership enables Grateful to offer the STASH high-interest savings product bundled into the tipping platform.
• Katie Linstead (Grateful Team Member as Client Partnership Extension)coreOthersKatie Linstead, Head of Services and Compliance at Grateful, is described by Jumeirah HR Director as acting as 'an extension of their team.' She handles consultation, stakeholder communication, and ongoing tronc committee engagement directly, representing a high-touch partnership model at enterprise accounts.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights8 records

Broad incumbents

• Toast: US-born restaurant POS and operations platform actively expanding into payroll and team management. Already a named Grateful integration partner; Toast's scale and US footprint position it to bundle tronc/tipping features into its platform, eroding Grateful's standalone value at multi-region operators like F1 Arcade.
• Deputy: Workforce scheduling and time-tracking platform widely used in UK hospitality. Provides shift/rota data to Grateful for tronc calculations but could absorb tipping distribution into its own scheduling workflow, particularly for mid-market operators.
• Fourth Hospitality: End-to-end workforce management, inventory, and payroll platform purpose-built for UK hospitality. Both a core integration partner and a strategic threat — Fourth could natively embed tronc and tipping distribution into its WFM stack, disintermediating Grateful at shared enterprise accounts.
• Zonal: UK end-to-end hospitality technology provider covering EPOS, reservations, loyalty, and management reporting. Existing Grateful integration partner whose EPOS feeds tip data; capable of bundling native tipping and tronc features for its UK hospitality customer base.
• Lightspeed Restaurant: Cloud POS and commerce platform serving restaurants and hospitality globally. Comparable in that it processes hospitality transactions and could extend into tipping distribution and payroll, threatening Grateful at multi-site restaurant group accounts.
• Planday: Employee scheduling and rota management platform owned by Xero with strong UK hospitality penetration. Integration partner of Grateful that supplies hours-worked data, but Xero's payroll reach could enable Planday to extend into compliant tronc distribution natively.
• Harri: Hospitality-first HR, hiring, scheduling, and workforce platform. Integration partner feeding HR data into Grateful's tip allocations; competitive risk if Harri extends into payroll and tipping distribution for its enterprise restaurant group base.

Emerging players

• 7shifts: Restaurant team management platform with scheduling, tip pooling, and payroll features primarily in North America. Comparable functionality to Grateful's Tronc module with partial overlap on tip distribution and restaurant operator base; useful international expansion benchmark.
• Wagestream: UK-based employee financial-wellness platform offering earned wage access, savings, and financial education to frontline workers. Adjacent competitor — overlaps with Grateful's STASH savings value proposition and targets the same frontline hospitality segment, but from a wage-access rather than tipping angle.

Direct peers

• TiPJAR: UK-based cashless tipping platform enabling customers to tip hospitality workers via QR codes with direct payouts. Most direct competitor to Grateful's Direct Tipping product, with overlapping target customer (UK hospitality operators) and similar transactional revenue model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/profile.php
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/grtfl

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Grateful