Tech-enabled restaurant platforms Hungry House and MegaBite merge to form international entity, BiteLabs

Hungry House, a New York-based fast casual restaurant platform that connects authentic and innovative chefs with bold menus to communities of adventurous eaters, is merging with MegaBite , based in Lima and Mexico City, a multi-brand platform bringing curated, chef-backed cuisine to market through various delivery channels and its own app. 

Both companies will continue to operate as vertically integrated players to maintain their mutually high levels of food quality and hospitality that are core to the brand of their new entity, BiteLabs.

Together, the two companies create an international, multi-brand fast casual player with 13 locations in three countries: USA, Mexico and Peru. With a combined annual revenue over $6 million, the joint entity will double down on continued growth across the verticals of in-store retail, first-party delivery, and third-party delivery partnerships with UberEATS, GrubHub, DoorDash, and Rappi in Latin America.

Pedro Neira, CEO, MegaBite and BiteLabs: "We believe that Hungry House and MegaBite, operating together, have the potential to be the most innovative, tech-enabled, multi-brand fast-casual restaurant group across the Americas. We'll continue to bring our vision of chef-backed fast casual restaurants with a dynamic in-store experience, and a robust native app, to diverse audiences passionate about great food. This will uplift choice for the consumer with groundbreaking, high-quality culinary brands developed in partnership with today's most exciting chefs and provide a range of choice for the consumer facilitated by algorithmically personalized options. We are definitely not a ghost kitchen platform. Given that our customers can reach us with in-person eating in our restaurants, via pickup, through third-party apps, as well as online through our own native apps and websites, I would say our business model mirrors more that of Sweetgreen, CAVA, and Shake Shack. The only difference is that we are serving multiple brands in our locations and not just one."

The merger creates an immense opportunity for expansion, as Hungry House provides the joint entity with expertise in business-to-business catering service, while MegaBite offers extensive expertise in data-driven, food delivery optimization across its multiple sales channels. The deal also creates exciting synergy with the talent of the combined C-Suite leading the next chapter of growth for the company.

Neira added, "Joining my own experience as a serial entrepreneur now developing my fourth startup, Andrew's deep culinary operations experience, and Solamon's background launching and scaling hyper-growth tech companies across the Americas, creates a highly complementary co-founding team. We will aim not only to significantly increase our revenue performance, but also work toward world-class unit economics across our soon-to-be 15 locations in a retail-forward model, collaborate with our inspiring chef partners, and delight our curious diners from the US to Latin America."

The transaction solidifies Hungry House and MegaBite's momentum at a compelling time in the fast casual segment. Both companies have since 2021 been building in the same space as leading players like Sweetgreen, Shake Shack, Kitopi and Cava–which provided a compelling signal in the fast casual market when it celebrated its $318M IPO in 2023, and whose share value quickly doubled weeks later. The joined companies will not build in the ghost kitchen space, but instead expand by building upon a multi-brand, in-store retail and multi-channel approach similar to that of Wonder, which recently secured an additional $100 in funding from Nestlé. The growth and expansion of Hungry House and MegaBite, and the current merger, have been facilitated by Wilshire Lane Capital, Carao Ventures, SNR VC, McK Hospitality, Alaya Capital, Amarena VC, and independent investors like Russ Rosenband, Atit Jariwala, and Andrew Balogh.

This news builds on the exciting growth of Hungry House's existing NYC footprint. The company recently launched a newly updated location in Manhattan on January 22nd. Previously Pure Grit BBQ (now a Hungry House portfolio brand), the new location stands for culinary collaboration, and brings together innovative, chef-inspired flavors through a single multi-brand culinary platform, available in person and online. The launch of the new restaurant, in the heart of Manhattan's Flatiron District, also featured a special announcement about Hungry House's upcoming partnership with chef and online personality Emily Fedner, of Food Lover's Diary, featuring an Eastern European-influenced dumpling menu, now available at both Hungry House locations in Manhattan & Brooklyn for pickup and delivery.

www.bitelabs.ai