SpotOn’s ordering system for stadiums will go to Shift4, but SpotOn will keep some of the underlying code. | Photo courtesy of SpotOn and Appetize
Restaurant tech provider SpotOn is selling its sports and entertainment division to payment processor Shift4.
SpotOn got into the mobile ordering business at large event venues about two years ago with the acquisition of Appetize. The deal connected it to enterprise-level clients and gave it access to Appetize’s technology, which it has used to improve its restaurant products.
It was not looking to sell the sports business, but when Shift4 approached with a good offer, SpotOn obliged, said CMO Kevin Bryla.
At the same time, it will allow SpotOn to focus more on its core business of restaurant tech.
“What we started to realize was we’ve been doing so well in restaurants that we really saw our future in restaurants,” he said. “I think we’ve done well by those [sports and entertainment] clients and they’ll be in very, very good hands with Shift4.”
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. But Bryla did reveal that under the agreement, SpotOn will retain ownership of parts of Appetize’s code to use within its own restaurant software, specifically Appetize’s intuitive, visual interface.
“You can train somebody up in minutes on this thing,” Bryla said of the system. He added that Appetize was designed to be highly scalable and able to handle surges in customer volumes.
SpotOn, which offers a full suite of front- and back-of-house restaurant technology, has seen “high double-digit growth” this year, according to a press release.
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