Australian tech scale-ups me&u and Mr Yum have announced they are joining forces in an all-stock merger, creating the world’s number one mobile ordering, payments and marketing platform for the hospitality industry.
Both companies were founded in 2018 – me&u in Sydney and Mr Yum in Melbourne – and now power mobile ordering and guest marketing for over 6,000 venues collectively, processing over AUD $2B of restaurant transactions annually across Australia, New Zealand, UK and US. The combined company is on track to reach profitability in 2024 with significant cash reserves.
The combined company will be led by Kim Teo, Mr Yum’s co-founder, as CEO. Stevan Premutico, me&u’s founder will sit on the board as a non-executive director, with me&u Chair Damian Smith appointed as the Chair.
“We’re both incredibly excited to join forces with another leader in this category. Over the years of competing in the marketplace, we’ve always had a deep respect for each other and are excited to learn from each other,” said Teo (above).
“From our international expansion efforts, we learnt that Australia has the highest penetration of QR code table ordering globally. We’re humbled that two Aussie-founded companies have built the best & most adopted platforms in our sector – used by thousands of venues and millions of guests.”
“This is a rare opportunity to see two strong Australian companies coming together to take on the world. A shared ambition to blend together technology & great experiences to build a better, smarter future for our industry. Today’s announcement marks the beginning of a crazy exciting new era that will benefit customers & business owners around the world.” said me&u founder Stevan Premutico (above).
The companies said the deal was testament to me&u and Mr Yum’s exceptional global growth over the last four years and will lead to accelerated product innovation for their customers through collective investment in one set of features rather than a duplication of efforts.
“Four types of customers interact with our products today – the venue operator, guests, staff and head office teams,” said Teo.
“Over the next few months, our combined company will launch a number of new products/features focused on elevating the interactions between staff and guests, as well as marketing tools to help increase foot traffic and revenue.”
The hospitality industry has reacted positively to the news.
Merivale CEO Justin Hemmes said: “Merivale has partnered with me&u across our portfolio since the very beginning. Used across countless venues and our stadia offerings, it has been a game-changer to our business and transformative to the customer experience, providing guests with a best-in-class ordering and payment system. It’s exciting to see two Aussie-born start-ups join forces to unlock the future of hospitality on a global scale. Together they are revolutionising service, operations and experience in the hospitality industry – I look forward to seeing what lies ahead.”
Australian Venue Co CEO Paul Waterson said: “I vividly remember the day in 2019 when we implemented Mr Yum in our venue Hopscotch for the first time. Not having to leave your seat to get a beer still feels as magical to me today as it did that day. Having known Kim for many years we knew that we had to be involved as founding shareholders of Mr Yum and are proud to have played a small part in an incredible Australian technology success story. Now seeing the two global leaders in the space come together to further develop the mobile ordering space is exciting for the Australian hospitality sector and our customers.”
