Virtual brand provider Nextbite is selling Ordermark, its software business that helps restaurants integrate orders from various online sources.
The buyer is UrbanPiper, an India-based company that offers similar technology. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The sale follows a recent round of layoffs at Nextbite, which grew quickly in 2020 and 2021 but has struggled more recently as investment capital dried up. It has cut jobs at least three times since last spring. UrbanPiper confirmed the acquisition in a press release.
"We've worked hard over the past six years to meet the needs of restaurants adapting to online ordering and changing consumer demands," said Alex Canter, co-founder and CEO of Nextbite, in a statement. "Along the way, we've gotten to know the UrbanPiper team very well, and we're excited that they will be carrying the Ordermark brand forward, growing the platform, and supporting customers in the U.S. and beyond."
Ordermark was founded in 2017 as a way to help restaurants manage orders from different third-party delivery apps. Rather than use a separate tablet for each app, restaurants could use Ordermark to gather their digital orders and send them directly to the POS system.
The company later created Nextbite, a group of delivery-only virtual brands such as HotBox by Wiz and Crave Burger that restaurants could license and operate out of their existing kitchens. Nextbite took off during the pandemic and eventually replaced Ordermark as the company's name and focus.
It was unclear what Nextbite planned to do with the virtual brand part of its business.
For UrbanPiper, the deal gives it a foothold in the U.S. as it looks to grow its global footprint. Founded in 2016, it works with more than 35,000 restaurants worldwide and processes 300 million orders annually, according to the release.
Nextbite, meanwhile, has "thousands" of restaurant clients and processes 30 million transactions a year.
"We are very excited to expand upon the world-class platform developed by Ordermark and to grow the loyal customer base they have established," said Saurabh Gupta, UrbanPiper co-founder and CEO, in a statement. "This acquisition allows us to offer new capabilities and extensive point of sale (POS) integrations to our customers, while also expanding our reach into the U.S. market."
As part of the deal, Ordermark CTO Arpan Desai will join UrbanPiper along with a "substantial portion" of Ordermark's product and engineering team.
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