Two Former IBM GMs Unite to Fund Hospitality Industry Mobile Platform

DVI Equity Partners, LLC (DVI) announced an investment of capital and strategic growth expertise in Tacit Innovations Corp.

The investment brings together former IBM general managers Robert Griffin, now DVI managing partner, and Marc Altshuller, now Tacit chairman, who both believe Tacit’s mobile platform Maegan is a game changer for the hospitality industry. The platform integrates existing point-of-sale, payment, loyalty and student card systems to measurably improve efficiency, profits and customer experiences.

“There is significant consolidation and demand for technology that seamlessly and cost-effectively connects existing point-of-sale and payment systems with mobile phone technology,” said Robert Griffin, DVI managing partner.

A recent survey conducted by orderTalk, a provider of online ordering software, indicates more than 45 percent of U.S. adults will increase their use of online ordering within the next 12 months, joining the nearly two-thirds of Americans who regularly make digital purchases.

“You may not have heard of Tacit because it focuses on restaurant chains, food courts, hotels, stadiums and campuses, both school and corporate, that want to roll out their own branded apps, but they are already deployed in communities all over the United States and Canada,” adds Marc Altshuller, Tacit chairman. “One of Tacit’s larger chains has been rolling out more than 5,000 locations, with over 500 of these going live this quarter, and another has rolled out in hospital food courts all across Canada with well-recognized restaurant brands.”

Griffin added that DVI’s investment in Tacit is in keeping with its stated mission to support companies founded and led by women and minorities. Tacit founders are entrepreneurs Cris Jucan and Brenda Crainic.

Griffin will join Tacit’s co-founders Cris and Brenda, along with Altshuller and Joel Shapiro, Professor of Data Analytics at Kellogg School of Management, on the Tacit Board of Directors.