Restaurant tech M&A is heating up again

It’s been a busy start to the year for restaurant technology M&A.  

Six deals went down in the first quarter, representing a ramp-up after a quiet couple of years.

What’s driving the activity? Tech firms want to add more tools so they can pitch themselves to restaurants as “all-in-one” (or at least many-in-one) suppliers. Meanwhile, a lack of investment capital may be driving smaller startups to look for an exit strategy. 

There will certainly be more consolidation to come this year. Here’s a look at what’s happened so far.

Online ordering supplier ChowNow acquired Cuboh, a Canadian company that helps restaurants streamline incoming third-party delivery orders.

ChowNow said the deal will make its offering for independent restaurants more comprehensive and help them clean up jumbled tech stacks. It will also increase the number of POS systems that can integrate with ChowNow's tech to 14, from two.

The CEO of digital restaurant company C3 and hotel and nightclub group SBE acquired some of the assets and IP of former ghost kitchen operator Kitchen United.

Nazarian plans to use the company’s kitchens and food halls as a foundation for a new digital restaurant company called Everybody Eats. The group will include Nazarian’s digital restaurant holdings, C3 and Nextbite.

It solidifies Nazarian as one of the biggest players in virtual brands.

The big restaurant tech supplier acquired Task and Stuzo, extending its presence in international markets and in convenience stores.

Australia-based Task offers a “unified commerce platform” for restaurants that includes POS, online and mobile ordering, kitchen management software and more. PAR will scoop it up for $206 million in cash.

Stuzo offers digital ordering and loyalty for convenience stores. PAR bought it for $190 million in cash and stock.

They are just the latest acquisitions for PAR, which has been growing through M&A for years.

The owner of Dunkin’, Arby’s and other restaurant chains acquired Vromo, a company that helps restaurants manage their delivery fleets.

Inspire did not say how it planned to use the technology, but noted that it would help make delivery more profitable. Only one of its six brands—the 2,600-unit Jimmy John’s—staffs its own delivery drivers.

The provider of marketing and operations technology for restaurants acquired text-message marketing company HeyPluto in January.

It’s the first acquisition for the 13-year-old SevenRooms and gives the company another marketing tool to offer operators. 

HeyPluto, founded in Boston in 2018, uses artificial intelligence to power personalized, two-way text messaging between brands and customers.

Order integration provider Chowly in January acquired digital marketing platform Targetable.

Targetable allows restaurants to create multi-channel ad campaigns targeted at specific audiences. 

It was the second deal in a year for Chowly, following its acquisition of online-ordering provider Koala last year, as it continues to expand its product suite for restaurants.