Toast has seen tremendous growth over its five years of existence. We wouldn't be surprised if the next stop is an IPO. (And directing $1 billion toward R&D efforts is certainly not small potatoes.)
Custom tipping screens from Toast, Square, and similar digital point-of-sale systems can, in some cases, double an employee’s paycheck. In an extremely tight labor market, it can be a big selling point.
There's a great "unicorn Toast" joke in here somewhere, but mostly this investment in a relatively young restaurant technology company underscores the value that both investors and restaurants are placing on connected, modern, and agile software to run competitive and profitable businesses.
This integration is one small example of a larger trend: restaurant technology companies working to integrate seamlessly to provide the best solution for restaurateurs in a sea of options.