ezCater Raises $100M to Bankroll Expansion
ezCater, a nationwide marketplace for business catering, has raised a $100 million Series D investment, which brings ezCater’s total funding to $170 million. The company will use the funds to extend its market leadership, deepen its products, and expand internationally.
Founded in 2007, ezCater is a way businesspeople find reliable local catering providers and order from them online. In the United States alone, businesses spend $22 billion every year on catering, according to industry research firm Technomic. ezCater customers come from organizations of all sizes and industries, including Astra Zeneca, Redfin, Tesla, and 90 percent of the Fortune 500.
ezCater also helps restaurant operators grow their businesses. According to data from Technomic, business catering sales in the U.S. have grown twice as fast as overall restaurant sales in the last four years. Over 60,000 restaurants and caterers partner with ezCater to increase their share of this business. ezCater’s catering partners range from local independent restaurants to national chains such as California Pizza Kitchen, Firehouse Subs, and P.F. Changs.
ezCater recently expanded its catering product suite for restaurants earlier this year, launching ezOrdering, ezManage, and ezDispatch. ezOrdering enables restaurants to take online catering orders from their own website; ezManage lets them manage and understand their catering orders; and ezDispatch connects them to vetted and reliable delivery companies. With the Series D investment ezCater will continue its rapid expansion of its catering product suite.
Over the past year, ezCater has made strategic hires to strengthen its growth and expansion. In December, the company added two highly experienced directors to its board – Emily Keeton, WeWork’s Global Head of M&A, and Chuck Cory, former Chairman of Global Technology Banking at Morgan Stanley. In March, Jim Rand, a restaurant executive who built and grew the catering operations of both Panera Bread and P.F. Chang’s, joined ezCater to help the company make the best possible products for its catering partners.