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Food tech scale-up Deliverect has acquired Dubai-based mobile ordering and marketing solutions provider for hospitality brands, ChatFood. The acquisition is designed to provide the restaurant industry with a solution to enable profitable growth and experiences, including social, dine-in QR and direct channel ordering, as well as online food delivery. Together, the companies will serve more than 43,000 restaurants and foodservice businesses globally, powering over 300 million orders in 42 markets. ChatFood operates in the Gulf region with more than 3,000 foodservice locations relying on its technology. Its co-founders will remain with Deliverect to lead further growth and expansion. Zhong Xu, CEO and co-founder of Deliverect, said: "We are thrilled to welcome ChatFood to the Deliverect team. With ChatFood, we now provide a 360-degree solution inspired by the challenges our customers face, supporting them both with in-restaurant dining and online food delivery. This milestone is significant for our company because each day we strive to simplify the lives of restaurant owners and help them thrive in the digital age." The acquisition will enable Deliverect to offer customers a one-stop digital platform that eliminates complexity and drives value for in-restaurant dining and online delivery experiences. Ben Mouflard, CEO and co-founder of ChatFood, added: "We've had an opportunity to observe Deliverect's values and dedication to their customers through our existing integration and long-standing partnership. We recognised that their approach aligned with our own. We are so excited by this next chapter in our journey and bringing our solutions to restaurants around the world." According to ChatFood, its solutions have resulted in 35% higher average spending from customers, tripled the amount of tips and increased labour efficiency by 25%. New solutions resulting from the acquisition include ‘Deliverect Social Media Ordering,’ where restaurants’ customers can order from their social media accounts and tap into restaurants' social channels. Another solution is ‘Deliverect Order & Pay,’ where restaurants can digitise their dine-in experience with custom QR codes for menus, ordering, bill management and payment, helping staff focus on creating the best dining experience and rewarding customers for their visits. Deliverect’s ‘Social Media Ordering’ and ‘Order & Pay’ will be available globally on a rolling basis over the coming months. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.