Leawood-based online restaurant platform Menufy acquired by hungry Houston cloud company

October 26, 2021  |  Startland News Staff

Menufy team, 2021

A rapidly scaling Leawood tech company that helped dozens of Kansas City restaurants, as well as eateries across 3,000 other cities, survive the pandemic has sold to a Houston-based cloud software provider for the restaurant industry.

Sharmil Desai, Menufy

Sharmil Desai, Menufy

Menufy’s vast online food ordering platform and network is expected to be incorporated into the HungerRush 360 cloud POS system as part of the undisclosed deal, which was announced Tuesday morning. The move is expected to help tens of thousands of restaurants grow their businesses, expand their capabilities and improve their profit margins, the companies said in a press release.

Click here to read more about how Menufy scaled its operations with a diverse team built in Kansas City.

“HungerRush opens a multitude of doors for the Menufy team and our customers,” said Sharmil Desai, co-founder and CEO of Menufy. “By joining a company with an impressive roster of both technology offerings and restaurant customers, Menufy’s customers now have access to a holistic suite of solutions and deep industry expertise designed to strengthen restaurant operations and improve business outcomes. Together, HungerRush and Menufy will bring restaurateurs seamless mobile and online ordering capabilities, with the goal of ultimately empowering them to grow independently and rapidly.”

Since 2009, Menufy has been helping independently-owned restaurants drive both growth and profitability through transparent pricing, a compelling online website and mobile app ordering experience designed around a restaurant’s brand. Menufy is led by Desai and Susan Escher, CFO and head of strategy.

The company supports more than 12,000 independently owned restaurants and was named one of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce’ 2021 Top 10 Small Businesses — putting the company in the running for its coveted Mr. K Small Business of the Year Award.

Menufy Ashishh, Desai

Ashishh Desai, Menufy

Menufy’s foundation of adaptability is one of the key reasons the bootstrapped-company thrived in the heaviest days of the pandemic,  co-founder and director of sales Ashishh Desai told Startland News this summer, citing a quick rollout of features that streamlined curbside delivery and contactless pickup services for locally owned restaurants in 3,000 cities nationwide. 

“From the beginning, we’ve always talked to our clients about what they needed and just adjusted the software to make sure we’re meeting the needs of the majority of our customers,” he said.

In addition to having access to HungerRush’s cloud POS system, Menufy’s customers now will have access to additional integrated cloud solutions including AI-driven text ordering, marketing and delivery.

Click here to learn more about HungerRush and its focus on data-driven restaurant management, and machine learning-empowered ordering solutions

“Today’s news to acquire Menufy further builds out our portfolio with the talent and technology capabilities to continue meeting the fast-growing needs of our restaurant customers,” said Perry Turbes, CEO of HungerRush. “The addition of Menufy’s proven online ordering offerings further helps HungerRush’s customers navigate an ever-changing industry landscape. This is a time when restaurants are embracing innovation and digital solutions more than ever. This acquisition expands HungerRush’s market presence and allows us to offer our combined customers one place for a complete all-in-one solution.”

This story is possible thanks to support from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, a private, nonpartisan foundation that works together with communities in education and entrepreneurship to create uncommon solutions and empower people to shape their futures and be successful.

For more information, visit www.kauffman.org and connect at www.twitter.com/kauffmanfdn and www.facebook.com/kauffmanfdn

startland-tip-jar

TIP JAR

Did you enjoy this post? Show your support by becoming a member or buying us a coffee.

Tagged , , ,
Featured Business
    Featured Founder

      2021 Startups to Watch

        stats here

        Related Posts on Startland News

        Made in KC reveals plans for Barrywoods shop in the Northland (and where it’ll open next)

        By Tommy Felts | March 15, 2023

        Made in KC is intentionally growing where local demand takes it, said Keith Bradley, detailing the brand’s expansion plans that hinge on customer convenience and include a new store in a prominent Northland shopping center.  “We realized that we don’t have a strong presence in the Northland,” said Bradley, a co-owner of Made in KC…

        Zach Anderson Pettet, Money 20/20, Cordell Carter II, Aspen Institute Socrates Program, Terri Bradford, Federal Reserve of Kansas City, and Donald Hawkins, kinly, at the C3KC “Fintech is Revolutionizing Banking” session

        National pain points meet local solutions at C3KC; How ‘energy of the day’ can spark lasting change

        By Tommy Felts | March 14, 2023

        Editor’s note: The Junior League of Kansas City — through its C3KC conference — is an advertiser with Startland News. Fostering conversations about the most-pressing concerns facing communities not only helps expose the best of Kansas City innovation, said Becky Haddican, it also serves as a catalyst for even greater collaboration in the future. Now in…

        AI-generated bedtime stories are just the first chapter in JQ Sirls epic venture to make the publishing industry more inclusive

        By Tommy Felts | March 14, 2023

        Every great children’s story deserves the opportunity to be published, JQ Sirls said, adding his own footnote that more people are qualified than they think to create them.  “I could put 1,000 people in one room and tell them all to write a short story about their childhood. While many of them may have a…

        ‘When puppets talk people listen’: It’s not just storytelling anymore for one of KC’s most beloved children’s theaters

        By Tommy Felts | March 14, 2023

        A Kansas City arts institution known for years as the Mesner Puppet Theater is animated with new life, said Meghann Henry, detailing a mission pivot for the freshly sewn and rebranded What If Puppets. Evolution at the nonprofit has taken a turn toward early childhood education since the retirement of Paul Mesner in 2016 —…