The combined mega delivery service will serve more than 500 cities and enable delivery from over 20,000 restaurants

This article is more than 7 years old

This article is more than 7 years old

Online food ordering companies Seamless and Grubhub have announced a merger, creating an as-yet-unnamed mega delivery service.

The new company will serve more than 500 cities and enable food orders at more than 20,000 restaurants. It will also pose a threat to smaller delivery companies including Delivery.com.

In a release, the long-time competitors said the merger presents an opportunity to expand the reach of their services, encourage quicker and more diversified product development and improve growth opportunities.

"GrubHub and Seamless share a common goal to generate more business for local takeout restaurants while providing the best possible service to diners," said Matt Maloney, the GrubHub co-founder and chief executive, in a statement. "By combining our complementary restaurant and diner networks, we are well positioned for continued growth in a massive market."

Maloney will serve as the new company's CEO, and Seamless chief executive Jonathhan Zabusky will be the company's president.

Maloney co-founded GrubHub with chief operating officer Mike Evans in 2004. In five rounds of venture financing, the team acquired $84.1m in investment funding. GrubHub purchased the parent company of Campusfood and Allmenus in September 2011.

GrubHub is based in Chicago and has a more dominant hold on the midwest, while Seamless has a defining grasp on New York, where the company is based. Seamless also has a presence in the UK. And though both companies have a regional focus, they each have expanded their brand focus into major US cities.

Under Zablusky's leadership, Seamless underwent a significant rebrand and changed from SeamlessWeb to Seamless in July 2011. In October 2011, the company acquired Menupages.

Tech Crunch on Friday reported on rumors that the companies would merge. The tech blog said rumors of a GrubHub initial public offering have been circulating since last fall, and this latest development does not necessarily pose a threat to that consideration. Both companies are currently independent and privately held.

This combined company's name is expected to be announced after regulators approve the merger. Offices in New York, Chicago, Salt Lake City and London are set to remain open.

Industry reports show that $350m was invested in food technology in 2012, a 37% increase from the amount raised in 2011. This is directed towards online food delivery service companies and other web platforms and applications that specialize in things like niche organic food delivery or accept Bitcoin as payment.