• Belgium-based food delivery software provider Deliverect has acquired UAE-based foodtech ChatFood, for an unknown amount.
• Founded in 2018 by Benjamin Mouflard and Vinicius Rodrigues, ChatFood, a Wamda Capital portfolio company, is an omnichannel ordering and data-driven marketing platform. Its offerings include social media ordering, order and pay at the table, and loyalty solutions. Since its launch, ChatFood has amassed 3,000 food service locations as its clients. 
• Deliverect is a SaaS provider that integrates online orders from food delivery channels into restaurants’ POS to improve their operational flow.
• The acquisition will enable Deliverect to extend and support social media, dine-in QR and direct channel ordering, as well as enhance its offerings and its precedence in the Middle East.

Press release:

Deliverect, a global scale-up that integrates and accelerates online orders for restaurants, announced today that it has acquired ChatFood, a leader in social media ordering, order and pay at the table, and loyalty solutions. This acquisition provides the restaurant industry with a unified solution to enable profitable growth and exceptional experiences, including social, dine-in QR, and direct channel ordering, as well as online food delivery. 

Together Deliverect and ChatFood serve over 43,000 restaurants and food service businesses around the world and power over 300 million orders in 42 markets. ChatFood’s strength is in the Gulf region with more than 3,000 food service locations relying on their technology. ChatFood co-founders, Benjamin Mouflard and Vini Rodrigues will remain with Deliverect, leading further growth and expansion.

“We are thrilled to welcome ChatFood to the Deliverect team,” said Zhong Xu, CEO and co-founder of Deliverect. “With ChatFood, we now provide a 360-degree solution inspired by the challenges our customers face, supporting them both with in-restaurant dining and online food delivery. This milestone is significant for our company because each day we strive to simplify the lives of restaurant owners and help them thrive in the digital age.”

With the addition of ChatFood, Deliverect will offer customers a one-stop, best-in-class digital platform that eliminates complexity and drives value for both in-restaurant dining and online delivery experiences. When restaurants invest in social media ordering technology specifically, they can better understand, connect with, and engage their customers directly to grow to repeat business and stand out from the competition. 

“We’ve had an opportunity to observe Deliverect’s values and dedication to their customers through our existing integration and long-standing partnership. We recognised that their approach aligned with our own,” said Ben Mouflard, CEO and co-founder of ChatFood. “We are so excited by this next chapter in our journey and bringing our solutions to restaurants around the world.” 

“The acquisition of ChatFood is an important step for Deliverect in MENA in particular, given the company’s notable presence and success in the region,” said Naji Haddad, General Manager of MENA for Deliverect. “We are delighted to invest further in the Middle East, demonstrating our ongoing commitment to our customers here, as well as to the wider community.”   

ChatFood solutions have resulted in 35% higher average spending from customers, 3x more tips, and 25% more labour efficiency. With this acquisition, benefits to the food service industry include new solutions:

Deliverect Social Media Ordering: Restaurants’ customers can order from their social media accounts. Tap into a restaurant’s social channels and their marketing tools to see margins, followers, and orders grow.

Deliverect Order & Pay: Restaurants can digitise their dine-in experience with custom QR codes for menus, ordering, bill management, and payment. This solution helps staff focus on creating the best dining experience and rewards customers for their visits.

With this acquisition, Deliverect Social Media Ordering and Order & Pay will be available globally on a rolling basis over the coming months.