Magic, an innovative company developing AI for real-world experiences, has raised $10 million in seed funding led by Lerer Hippeau, with contributions from Bling Capital, Floodgate, and hospitality visionaries Major Food Group and VCR Group, led by Gary Vaynerchuk and David Rodolitz. This fresh capital marks Magic’s emergence from stealth mode after successfully building Loyalist, its agentic CRM platform adopted by hundreds of restaurants, including Major Food Group, Momofuku, Le Bernardin, COTE, and Daniel Boulud’s The Dinex Group.
While AI has accelerated productivity for professionals in sectors like engineering, law, and analytics, it has largely overlooked the world’s largest employer sector: the service industry. Magic aims to bridge this gap.
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“Every aspect of our digital lives has been personalized by AI from how we shop to consume content, but when you walk into a restaurant, hotel, a retail store, the experiences still feel generic,” said Maggie Tang, Founder and CEO of Magic. “The next chapter of AI will happen beyond the chat window – in the real world.”
Magic’s first product, Loyalist, integrates a restaurant’s existing technology reservations, point-of-sale systems, private event platforms, and social media into a unified, real-time CRM. This platform enables marketing, review management, reporting, and more, while surfacing actionable insights that allow operators to deliver personalized experiences at scale, such as remembering a guest’s favorite booth, dessert preference, or sending targeted invitations to curated events.
“One of the things that makes our restaurants special is our deeply personal relationships with our top regulars and friends. Loyalist allows us to scale that personal relationship with every guest who dines with us,” said Mario Carbone, chef and co-founder of Major Food Group, the luxury hospitality brand behind CARBONE, Torrisi Bar & Restaurant, Sadelle’s, and ZZ’s Club.
David Rodolitz, co-owner and CEO of VCR Group, added, “Loyalist is building technology that actually understands the human side of our industry, helping operators connect, anticipate, and engage in ways that feel personal at scale.”
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Currently, Loyalist powers tens of millions of guest interactions annually across hundreds of restaurants, representing over $2 billion in guest spend, with revenue surging more than tenfold over the past year. Magic intends to deploy the new funding to expand its team and develop additional AI-powered solutions for hospitality, including hotels, retail, real estate, wellness, and more.
“Hospitality experiences are supposed to feel magical marked by great service, energy, special offerings but anyone who’s worked in the industry knows how hard it is to make magic every day,” said Ben Lerer, Managing Partner at Lerer Hippeau. “Maggie’s unique blend of product expertise and hospitality intuition is now using AI to remove friction so the human side can shine. The tech is finally ready to make that promise real for one of the world’s biggest (and most analog) industries.”
Tang concluded, “The more digital our lives become, the more we crave authentic human connection. Magic is about giving people superpowers to create experiences that make people feel like they truly belong.”
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