A local software company focused on the restaurant industry has acquired a Kansas City-area startup whose technology develops an e-commerce platform and websites that enable online ordering.
Houston-based HungerRush hopes to bolster its all-in-one restaurant system with the deal for Leawood, Kansas-based Menufy. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Menufy, founded in 2009, can integrate its technology with existing restaurant websites and point-of-sale systems. Its co-founders include current and former restaurateurs who wanted a better way to do business, CEO Sharmil Desai previously told the Kansas City Business Journal. Not surprisingly, the pandemic sent Menufy’s growth soaring. It doubled its employee base to 130 and nearly doubled its restaurant customers, which are in more than 3,000 U.S. cities. In April, Desai said the company planned to hire 20 more people before the year ends.
The Leawood company joins an operation that now has almost 20,000 restaurants nationwide. HungerRush’s system combines digital ordering, delivery, customer engagement, restaurant management and payment processing into a single platform, according to the release.
“HungerRush opens a multitude of doors for the Menufy team and our customers,” Desai said.
The acquisition of Menufy comes less than six months after HungerRush announced it acquired New York-based 9Fold, a developer of software for online ordering and digital marketing. In December 2020, HungerRush announced the acquisition of OrderAI, a provider of text- and voice-ordering services. In March, HungerRush launched its artificial intelligence-driven text-to-order offering for restaurants.
HungerRush is a portfolio company of Houston-based private equity firm The CapStreet Group. With $924 million in assets under management as of 2021, The CapStreet Group ranked No. 2 on the Houston Business Journal's 2021 Largest Venture Capital and Private Equity Firms List. The CapStreet Group has previously invested in other Houston-based companies, including ATM operator Cardtronics (Nasdaq: CATM) and health care governance software developer Symplr.
Menufy was among the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce’s Top 10 Small Businesses this year.
