Uber has agreed to acquire ezCater, a Boston-based catering and workplace meals platform, in an all-cash deal valued at $2.3 billion. Bloomberg reported the agreement, and Uber framed it as a way to push Uber Eats further into corporate customers. The companies expect the transaction to close within months, pending the usual approvals.
It is a big exit for a company that started in 2007 and stayed bootstrapped for seven years before raising its first $4 million round in 2014. For Uber, it is the latest step in turning Uber Eats from a consumer food delivery app into a much broader food business.
What ezCater brings to Uber Eats
ezCater is a marketplace for businesses that need large orders: team lunches, office events, client meetings and other workplace meals. Uber describes it as a leading U.S. platform for catering and workplace meals, and the company generated more than $2.5 billion in gross bookings over the last 12 months, according to Uber.
That is a very different business from a single dinner order. Corporate catering involves bigger baskets, repeat contracts and buyers who plan ahead, which makes it attractive for restaurants looking for steadier, higher-value revenue. ezCater handles that demand by connecting companies with caterers, a model that has been compared to an Expedia for catering.
Uber Eats growth strategy and the Delivery Hero deal
The ezCater acquisition is the latest in a string of deals meant to grow Uber Eats into a food delivery giant. Uber is also in the process of buying Delivery Hero for $15 billion, and it has been investing in and partnering with drone delivery companies such as Zipline and Flytrex.
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said catering is a big business and can be a huge revenue stream for restaurants, adding that Uber's reach can bring that experience to millions more customers and help restaurants win more of those valuable orders. That logic ties the purchase to Uber's wider push: more merchants, more order types and more corporate clients on the same platform.
