Australasia’s hospitality tech pioneers – HungryHungry and MOBI – have merged to create a new powerhouse in the local market and to take on new markets, especially the USA.
The new company combines HungryHungry's expertise in hospitality-focused software with MOBI's enterprise-grade mobile technology solutions, services over 4,000+ venues across 15 countries including Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the USA.
The new entity creates a unique combination of consumer facing technology to drive new customers for venues while also offering a white label technology platform that allows brands to effectively engage with customers and generate lasting brand loyalty for their own brand.
With MOBI founder Tarik Mallett having exited the business in 2022, the new company will be led by HungryHungry Co-Founders Shannon Hautot and Mark Calabro, who have extensive experience in powering the hospitality industry with Point of Sale (POS) software and digital ordering platforms, including their first business OrderMate, which they sold to former ASX company MSL Solutions in 2021.
Shannon Hautot, Co-Founder and CEO, said, “We have enormous admiration for MOBI founder, Tarik Mallett, who spent 12 years creating a solid business with a great culture and we’re excited to announce the coming together of HungryHungry and MOBI.
“Having been in this space for over two decades It’s a rare opportunity to witness two strong, established and profitable companies come together with a vision of combining forces to deliver massive value for customers.
“We may be the underdogs in our space, having only raised a fraction of outside capital compared with some of our peers, but that means we've had to be very efficient and respectful with how we spend our investors’ money.
“We share a genuine desire to create a powerful, sustainable market leader in the hospitality sector, that will act as a growth engine to stimulate the industry, whilst continuing to lead with innovation and integrity. Together with MOBI, we are better positioned than ever to innovate, scale, and meet the evolving needs of the global hospitality industry, both SMB and Enterprise, with big plans to sprint past our competitors.”
Mark Calabro, Co-Founder and Head of Partnerships, added, “Shannon and I were inspired to start our first business, OrderMate, through a love of food, dining out and technology.
“Fast forward to 2021 when we sold OrderMate - we were even more inspired to innovate and go again. Our journey has been driven by a passion and commitment to delivering the most innovative technology driven solutions that align with the evolving needs of the hospitality industry. As we join forces with MOBI we look forward to the next chapter including the launch of our game changing payments product, HungryPay - a product which leans into a service-centric industry that is hospitality, whilst having product market fit for countries like the US which are all about staff taking orders and tipping.”
Brodie Arnhold, Chairman of HungryHungry and now Chairman of the group said, “It is great to have two profitable businesses come together in a move that will further consolidate the market and create significant value for shareholders of both companies. Being EBITDA positive, cashflow positive and debt free, means we can really strategically target new products, new markets and look at further M&A opportunities for growth.”
Mark Vivian, Partner at Movac and a major investor in MOBI, said, “With a rich history in venture capital investment in New Zealand, we're always on the lookout for tech opportunities that have the potential to disrupt the status quo.
“Since first investing in MOBI in 2019, we've seen the business grow from a New Zealand online ordering platform to a global hospitality tech leader. The merger is the logical next step in the evolution of both companies, as it creates a new entity with significant critical mass, an impressive global customer base, and a full product offering to better serve a range of hospitality customers and their guests. With further innovation and global expansion, the future is an exciting one."
About HungryHungry
HungryHungry is an award winning, end-to-end ordering and payment hospitality tech platform co-founded in 2019 by Mark Calabro and Shannon Hautot, each with 20+ years’ experience in Point Of Sale (POS) and integrated technology solutions for the hospitality industry. They launched their first business Point of Sale company, OrderMate, in 2003. In the years that followed they grew their customer base to over 2,500 venues across Australia, NZ and the UAE, building a successful business that was acquired in 2021 by MSL Solutions.
HungryHungry is on a mission to deliver innovative, tech-driven solutions that help venue owners increase revenue, lower costs, and access valuable data insights to enhance customer loyalty and inform ways of delivering better experiences. It operates as a standalone product to place, fulfill and record all food and beverage orders in multi-segments across indoor and outdoor dining, fast service, high volume delivery venues, hotel and room service, pick up and collect at counter ordering, kiosk solutions, multi-area restaurants and cafes.
About MOBI
Founded in 2010, MOBI is the market leader in the mid-market enterprise category in Australia, New Zealand & Canada, processing over $500m in customer transactions. With a presence in more than 3000 restaurants and hospitality businesses across Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the U.S, MOBI’s enterprise-grade solutions focus on helping clients increase revenue, improve customer experience, and regain control of their customer relationships. Originating as an online ordering solution for Order Ahead & Pick-up, MOBI has expanded product offerings to now include Branded Storefronts, Mobile Apps for iOS and Android, AI-driven guest experiences, White-Labelled Delivery, Marketplace Order Aggregation, Order with Google, Order at Table, Personalised Loyalty and over 120 powerful integrations.
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