The hospitality tech space is contracting as two more startups that have emerged in the last few years are merging.
Resy, which offers both restaurant management software and a consumer-facing restaurant reservation platform, announced on Monday that it is acquiring its competitor, Reserve, a dining reservations and recommendations site.
The purchase is a considerable expansion play as the deal will expand Resy’s footprint—not just in its core U.S. markets such as New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, but also with Reserve’s restaurant networks in Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C. This will include partnerships with the likes of the James Beard-award winning Rick Bayless Group in Chicago and Dan Barber’s acclaimed establishment Blue Hill at Stone Barns in upstate New York, which has been named as one of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants. The combined Resy-Reserve network will reach more than 4,000 restaurants nationwide, making what Resy says will be the largest private restaurant reservation service in the United States.
Reserve CEO Greg Hong said in Monday’s announcement that the current objective is “establishing a plan to combine the best of both of our
products, and we’ll be working closely with our restaurant partners and their guests to ensure that it is a smooth and positive experience.”
“Resy is highly complementary to our existing footprint and enhances our ability to focus on the needs of our restaurants and build solutions to support them,” Hong wrote. The Reserve team noted that “the vast majority of Reserve’s employees” will be joining Resy, including CEO Hong, who will stay on through the transition period.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Founded in 2014 by Ben Leventhal, co-founder of food industry news network Eater, investors have included Airbnb, entrepreneur and author Gary Vaynerchuk, and Danny Meyer‘s Union Square Hospitality Group, among others.
While the Resy-Reserve merger mostly focuses on domestic expansion, Resy has been developing its international presence as well. Resy now works with 10,000 restaurants across 160 cities worldwide. Resy said in April its diner network has grown 275% in the last twelve months. Earlier this year, Resy announced plans to expand to Barcelona, Madrid, Amsterdam, Toronto, and Vancouver.
