Uber is buying ezCater for $2.3 billion, and the deal pairs the nation’s largest online catering service with one of the world’s biggest food delivery companies. EzCater connects businesses to meals for meetings, events and other occasions. Uber Eats is the platform doing the delivering.
Together, they say, they will combine ezCater’s catering and B2B expertise with Uber Eats’ large global footprint. The acquisition is expected to close in the coming months.
The Numbers Behind The Deal
EzCater generated more than $2.5 billion in gross bookings over the past 12 months, with year-over-year growth in the “high teens,” according to a press release. Its selection spans more than 140,000 restaurants, and the average order size on the platform is over $400.
More than 300,000 companies use Uber for Business to manage employee Uber rides and meals. Uber says it will leverage that division to bring ezCater to more businesses.
Who Built EzCater And What Happened To It
Boston-based ezCater was founded in 2007 by Stefania Mallett and Briscoe Rodgers. The company was hit hard by the pandemic but pivoted to focus on hybrid workplaces and sectors where employees had to work on-site.
In late 2021, it closed a $100 million funding round led by SoftBank and began reviving stalled plans for an IPO. That never materialized. In 2023, Mallett stepped down as CEO and was replaced by former Lyft executive Ashwin Raj. He was succeeded in May 2025 by Nihad Rahman, who had been ezCater’s CFO since 2022.
The Pandemic Boom And The Slowdown After It
Catering boomed following the pandemic, with inflation-adjusted sales growth surging by nearly 69% in 2021, according to Technomic data. It has since normalized more recently, slowing to just 0.6% growth last year.
Uber’s Reach And The Question Of Experience
Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber, made the pitch simple in a statement: “Catering is a big business, and can be a huge revenue stream for restaurants.” He added that “Rahman and his incredible team have built an amazing platform. With Uber’s reach, we can bring that experience to millions more customers and help restaurants win more of these valuable orders.”
That last line is the odd one. Uber Eats is a delivery platform. It does not run a marketplace like ezCater, and it has never explained how a delivery company brings a marketplace’s experience to anyone. The statement assumes the experience transfers without saying how.
What The Deal Actually Brings Together
The deal combines two distinct strengths. EzCater knows how to connect businesses to restaurants for large group meals. Uber Eats knows how to move food from restaurants to people. The combination is straightforward on paper: ezCater’s business customers get access to Uber Eats’ global network, and the deal brings big-ticket orders to restaurants.
| Company | Role In The Deal | Key Metric |
|---|---|---|
| ezCater | Largest online catering service in the U.S. | More than $2.5 billion in gross bookings over the past 12 months |
| Uber Eats | One of the biggest food delivery companies in the world | Large global footprint |
| Uber for Business | Uber’s enterprise division | More than 300,000 companies using it |
The Broader Consolidation Trend
This is not the first global deal in the delivery space. Uber itself struck a deal to acquire Germany-based Delivery Hero in July, which would roughly double its global footprint. Rival DoorDash has scooped up foreign counterparts Wolt and Deliveroo in recent years.
Why The Deal Makes Sense For Both Sides
For ezCater, the deal ends years of uncertainty. The failed IPO attempt and the pivot through the pandemic left the company without a clear path forward. Now it has a buyer. For Uber, the deal extends its reach into a market it previously served only indirectly through individual restaurant partnerships.
Our View On The Deal
The deal is sensible but modestly ambitious. It gives Uber a stake in the corporate catering market without fundamentally changing what it does. It gives ezCater a future it could not build on its own. The question of whether Uber can actually deliver ezCater’s experience remains unanswered, and the CEO’s statement does not answer it.
The deal closes soon. We will know more then.
Key Facts Box
- Deal value: $2.3 billion
- EzCater gross bookings: more than $2.5 billion over the past 12 months
- Year-over-year growth: “high teens”
- Average order size: over $400
- Restaurants in selection: more than 140,000
- Companies using Uber for Business: more than 300,000
- Funding round: $100 million, led by SoftBank, closed in late 2021
- Founders: Stefania Mallett and Briscoe Rodgers, 2007
- Current CEO: Nihad Rahman, succeeded Ashwin Raj in May 2025
- IPO plans: Stalled, never materialized
- Delivery Hero deal: Struck in July, would roughly double Uber’s global footprint
- DoorDash acquisitions: Wolt and Deliveroo in recent years
- Catering sales growth: +69% in 2021, +0.6% last year
Source material: “Uber to acquire ezCater for $2.3B,” Nation's Restaurant News.
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