Leading online food ordering and delivery marketplace, Grubhub, has announced an agreement to acquire university-centric mobile ordering and commerce app, Tapingo.
The companies have entered into a definitive agreement that will see Grubhub acquire Tapingo for approximately $150 million, subject to standard closing conditions. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2018. Further details regarding the financial impact of the acquisition will be discussed on Grubhub's third quarter earnings call.
Having forged more than 200 campus partnerships, Tapingo now supports tens of thousands of student mobile transactions each day, and has amassed more than half a million active users at on-campus cafes, restaurants, and cashier-less stores nationwide.
The acquisition of Tapingo will see the company's mobile network paired with Grubhub's existing restaurant marketplace and delivery capabilities to bring greater convenience to students and assist campus restaurants in capitalizing on pickup and delivery orders.
"We are excited to add Tapingo, a company that shares our vision of bringing greater convenience to diners and improving the restaurant ordering and pickup experience through technology," says Matt Maloney, founder and chief executive officer of Grubhub. "We value the college student population, many of whom we hope become life-long Grubhub diners with their first order. Tapingo makes students' lives easier, allows merchants to efficiently capitalize on online ordering, and enables colleges and universities to give students the technology they've come to expect."
Tapingo's platform is custom designed for campus use, with direct integration into college meal plans and point-of-sale systems. The platform supports seamless ordering and accurate, real-time updates on wait times.
The Tapingo platform also streamlines operations and increases in-store efficiency for campus restaurant partners including Taco Bell, Chipotle, Chick-fil-A, Panda Express and Jamba Juice, along with food-service providers Aramark and Sodexo.
"Joining Grubhub is an important step forward for Tapingo. Grubhub is the industry leader in food delivery, allowing us to provide even greater value to our campus partners and student diners with access to Grubhub's technology and delivery expertise," says Daniel Almog, co-founder and chief executive officer of Tapingo. "By joining forces with Grubhub's network of over 85,000 restaurant partners that offer online delivery and pickup, we'll continue to serve our loyal diners long after they graduate from college, which has always been our aspiration."