Technical.ly Baltimore: OrderUp acquired by Groupon

The deal pairs OrderUp, which has almost 40 markets across the USA, with Groupon’s 25 million North America customers.

“Groupon has massive scale and users and focuses on local markets just like we do”, Jeffery, OrderUp’s CEO, said in emailed responses to questions from Technical.ly Baltimore.

Groupon is apparently jumping into the game, as it announced late yesterday (July 16) that it will be acquiring food-delivery service OrderUp. “We look forward to bringing the thousands of great restaurants that we feature to hungry Groupon customers across the country”, he said in the press release. This new food delivery platform from Groupon was partially made possible with the acquisition of Baltimore based delivery startupOrderUp. OrderUp will continue to operate as a standalone brand with inventory cross promotion through Groupon’s marketplace and merchant pages. With the employee team of 80 in Baltimore and 50 in other places in U.S, the startup raised $9 million in Series A funding round led by Revolution Ventures, last year.

OrderUp, which was founded in 2009, is a major competitor in the food delivery space.

Like the app-based auto service Uber, OrderUp uses a network of drivers who are considered contractors and can accept or reject chances to make deliveries.

Popular discount website Groupon is getting into the food delivery game and going toe-to-toe with industry giants like GrubHub and Seamless.

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Deb Tillett, president of Baltimore’s Emerging Technology Center business incubator, said she was pleased to hear about the deal, both as an OrderUp customer and a local business advocate. Shoppers discover the best a city has to offer on the web or on mobile with Groupon Local, enjoy vacations with Groupon Getaways, and find a curated selection of electronics, fashion, home furnishings and more with Groupon Goods. Groupon to Go now operates in beta and is available to a small percentage of Groupon customers in Chicago.