Magic, a New York-based company developing AI for real-world experiences, has raised $10 million in seed funding to revolutionize how hospitality and service industries deliver personalized experiences. The funding round was led by Lerer Hippeau, with participation from Bling Capital, Floodgate, and strategic investors Major Food Group and VCR Group, the hospitality venture founded by Gary Vaynerchuk and David Rodolitz.
After operating quietly in stealth mode, Magic is now emerging publicly with its flagship product, Loyalist, an AI-based agentic CRM platform already used by hundreds of the world’s top restaurants, including Major Food Group, Momofuku, Le Bernardin, COTE, and Daniel Boulud’s The Dinex Group. Loyalist integrates a restaurant’s disparate technology systems from reservations and point-of-sale to private event management and social platforms — into a unified, real-time CRM that supports marketing, reputation management, and personalized guest engagement.
Loyalist helps hospitality operators deliver tailored experiences at scale by identifying and acting on detailed guest preferences, such as favorite seating areas, special desserts, or preferred event invitations. The platform already manages tens of millions of guest interactions annually, representing over $2 billion in guest spending, and has achieved more than 10x revenue growth in the past year.
Magic’s mission is to extend AI’s impact beyond digital workflows into industries like hospitality, which remains one of the largest global employers yet has seen limited AI adoption. Founder and CEO Maggie Tang, who spent years working in restaurant operations before founding Magic, envisions the technology as a way to empower front-line staff and enhance authentic guest relationships rather than replace them.
How the funding will be used: The company plans to use the funding to expand its team and develop new AI-driven solutions for additional sectors such as hotels, retail, real estate, and wellness. Magic aims to create a new generation of AI that enhances—not replaces—human connection in customer-facing industries.
KEY QUOTES:
“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. The next chapter of AI will happen beyond the chat window – in the real world.”
Maggie Tang, Founder and CEO, Magic
“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.”
Mario Carbone, Chef and Co-Founder, Major Food Group
“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.”
David Rodolitz, Co-Owner and CEO, VCR Group
“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. Maggie’s been working in restaurant operations since she was a teenager, and brings a rare combination of product depth and hospitality intuition and taste. Now, she’s using AI to take the friction out of the work 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.”
Ben Lerer, Managing Partner, Lerer Hippeau
“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.”
Maggie Tang, Founder and CEO, Magic
