Fundraising Fox
Tablz
Techstars '19Ottawa, CA · 7 known investors
Find your way into Tablz
Ottawa-based Tablz lets diners pay a fee to reserve a specific restaurant table chosen from a 3D map of the dining room.
Also known as Transparent Kitchen
Investors · 7
How we know: the Techstars portfolio · open dataset · Top 3000 Accelerator Startups (no YC) 2026-08 · Not right? Tell us
Also in the syndicate · 4
Company profile
researched Sep 2026Tablz is an Ottawa, Canada-based restaurant technology company that sells premium seating and dynamic pricing to the restaurant industry. Its platform links to restaurants' existing online reservation systems and presents diners with a 3D map or 3D tour of the dining room, allowing them to select and pay for the exact table they will sit at. Restaurants can leave seats free or set fees for the most desirable tables and times; prices vary by day and hour, costing more at peak periods and less during slower ones. Reported fee ranges were $4 to $10 per table at the Ottawa pilot stage and $5 to $100 in later coverage.
The service is positioned as an opt-in upsell modelled on premium seating in air travel and live events, which the company frames as revenue management for restaurants. Beyond incremental revenue, restaurant operators cited by press said the paid booking reduced no-shows and let guests preview ambience and spacing before arriving. Restaurants can also attach offers to the system, such as the early-bird discounted pricing used by one Ottawa participant, and the company has discussed pre-ordering items like cocktails or oysters at the time of booking.
The company's founders describe Tablz as a successor to Transparent Kitchen, an earlier interactive online menu platform for restaurants launched by the same team in 2016. Tablz says it is used by a range of venue types, from fine dining rooms to sports bars and scratch kitchens, and by multi-concept hospitality groups.
Founding story
Frazer Nagy, who previously worked in Ottawa restaurants including Restaurant E18ghteen and Fairouz, launched Transparent Kitchen in 2016 with Stef Scrivens and Jérôme St-Hilaire to build interactive online menus showing where restaurant ingredients came from. Nagy has said he first considered a table-booking system several years before Tablz launched, while Transparent Kitchen's main project was enhanced online menus for farm-to-table restaurants. Transparent Kitchen shut down when COVID-19 hit and sold part of its business, its platform and menu code, to an undisclosed payments company in 2020; the proceeds financed the development and early operations of Tablz, which Nagy called "essentially a phoenix born from the ashes of Transparent Kitchen."
Business model
Tablz operates a revenue-share model rather than charging restaurants a sign-up fee. In the Ottawa pilot, the company covered the cost of the 3D imaging, performed by a contractor, and took 30 percent of the revenue generated by Tablz reservations, leaving 70 percent of table-booking fees with the restaurant. Management characterized the fees as net-new revenue for operators rather than a commission on existing food sales.
Revenue comes from a share of the per-table booking fees paid by diners, with restaurants keeping 70 percent and Tablz retaining 30 percent. Fees have ranged from $4 to $10 in early Ottawa coverage and from $5 to $100 in later reporting, set by day, time and table desirability.
Traction
More than 2,500 tables were booked during the pilot phase. By July 2022 about 50 restaurants in Canada and the United States were using Tablz, with dozens more locations in the pipeline and a stated target of 100 restaurants online by the fall and "100 marquee properties" by the end of 2022. U.S. restaurant group INTL Cuisine, with six locations across California, Arizona and Texas, projected it would earn an extra US$10,000 in seat-booking fees in 2022 and said the service reduced no-shows.
Latest developments
In June 2022 Tablz announced a CAD $3.2 million (USD $2.5 million) pre-seed round raised via SAFE from hospitality-focused U.S. investors, and in July 2022 press reported roughly 50 live restaurants, plans to reach 100 by the fall, expansion into Dubai and discussions with initial chain customers.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
Tablz positions itself as a premium-seating layer that works alongside, rather than replaces, reservation and table-management platforms such as OpenTable, and its CEO claims it is the only premium seating solution on the market for restaurants. An investor noted that most restaurant technology serves either diners or operators, while Tablz addresses both. Reported adoption was about 50 restaurants in Canada and the United States as of July 2022.
Unlike reservation apps and table-management systems that book a time slot, Tablz sells the specific table, combining 3D dining-room visualization with variable pricing by day and time so restaurants can monetize their most desirable seats. The service is described as fully opt-in for diners, and the company frames the fees as incremental revenue for restaurants rather than a cut of existing sales.
Technology
The product uses 3D seating technology to render restaurant dining rooms so diners can navigate a 3D map or take a 3D tour and pick a specific table during the reservation flow. The platform integrates with restaurants' existing online reservation systems, including OpenTable, and applies variable pricing based on day and time. The 3D capture work was done by an external contractor in the early Ottawa deployments.
Go-to-market
Tablz onboards restaurants with no sign-up fee and funds the 3D capture itself, earning only when bookings generate fees. It began with a pilot among independent Ottawa restaurants, then expanded to North American cities, working with multi-concept hospitality groups and entering talks with early chain accounts. Hospitality-sector investors and operators, including the BentoBox CEO and restaurant groups, back the company.
Restaurants and hospitality groups that have sought-after tables and peak-demand periods, spanning fine dining, sports bars, scratch kitchens, clubs and pizzerias, as well as multi-location restaurant groups and prospective chain accounts. On the consumer side, the company targets the subset of diners who care where they sit, including people with disabilities, parents with young children and guests marking occasions such as birthdays and dates; management has said the service is not aimed at every restaurant or diner.
Geography
Headquartered and founded in Ottawa, Canada. Early pilot restaurants were in Ottawa, and by mid-2022 the service was live at restaurants across Canada and the United States, including Toronto, Chicago, New York and Miami, with Dubai cited as an upcoming market.
History
Tablz quietly debuted as a pilot in December 2020 with a handful of Ottawa restaurants including Prohibition Public House, Union 613, the Courtyard and Hintonburg Public House, operated by Transparent Kitchen. Additional Ottawa venues such as Soca Kitchen, Arlo, Das Lokal and Gitanes were added, with a stated goal of about 20 restaurants by mid-March 2021. The company was founded in 2021 by Nagy as CEO, Stef Scrivens as COO, Andrej Sakic as CPO and Jérôme St-Hilaire as CTO. After a pilot in which more than 2,500 tables were booked, Tablz closed a pre-seed round in May 2022 and announced it the following month, then expanded across North America.
Risks & controversies
Coverage raised the question of whether paid seat selection prices out some diners, a concern the CEO addressed by noting the service is entirely voluntary. An industry analyst cautioned that restaurants will need to calibrate pricing carefully and may need to target higher-income customers. The company also operates against a backdrop of restaurant-sector headwinds including inflation in food costs, recession concerns and pandemic-era disruption; the founders' earlier venture, Transparent Kitchen, closed during COVID-19.
Compiled by commissioned research from 5 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Founder mafia
2 people who came through Tablz went on to found or lead other companies.
Timeline · 4
launches, deals, and filingsTablz reported serving restaurants in cities including Toronto, Chicago, New York and Miami, with Dubai cited as an upcoming market, and about 50 live restaurants in Canada and the U.S.
Tablz disclosed a $3.2 million CAD ($2.5 million USD) pre-seed round raised via SAFE, closed in May, from hospitality-focused New York investors including RiverPark Ventures, Another Round VC, In Good Company Hospitality, Branded Strategic Hospitality, BentoBox CEO Krystle Mobayeni and Steve Simoni.
$2.5M source ↗
Transparent Kitchen quietly launched the Tablz table-booking service in December with Ottawa restaurants Prohibition Public House, Union 613, the Courtyard and Hintonburg Public House.
Transparent Kitchen shut down during COVID-19 and sold a portion of its business, its platform and menu code, to an undisclosed payments company; proceeds funded the launch of Tablz.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
In the news
▸Research sources · 5
primary sources listed
- Want to book a specific table at your favourite restaurant? You can, for a fee | Ottawa Citizenottawacitizen.com · web
5 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Tablz do?
- Ottawa-based Tablz lets diners pay a fee to reserve a specific restaurant table chosen from a 3D map of the dining room.
- Who are Tablz's investors?
- Tablz's investors include Techstars, Branded Strategic Hospitality, RiverPark Ventures.
- Where is Tablz headquartered?
- Tablz is headquartered in Ottawa, CA.