Brian McAndrews, the former aQuantive CEO who now serves as a venture partner at Seattle’s Madrona Venture Group, is already playing a role in the transformation of the news business (as a board member at The New York Times) and of the mobile broadband business (as a board member at Clearwire).
Now, the former online advertising executive is going to play a big role in the way people order meals from local restaurants. As part of the merger of Seamless and GrubHub, which was announced Monday, McAndrews will assume the chairman role.
McAndrews joined the board of Seamless last May, saying at the time of his appointment that the New York and London company was at the forefront of transforming takeout.
“Seamless is changing the way people think about food by providing a leading-edge and immersive ordering experience that includes a wealth of information, ratings, photos and reviews along with intuitive mobile and web platforms for a simple and fun way to order,” said McAndrews.
Together, Seamless and Chicago-based GrubHub will be available in more than 500 U.S. cities, with customers able to order from 20,000 local restaurants. Last year, the combined organization completed $875 million in gross food sales, meaning combined revenue of the organization was more than $100 million.
“We are excited to combine the strengths of these two dynamic organizations in an industry that is rapidly gaining traction. We believe the merger will enhance the products we are able to offer both our diners and restaurants,” said Matt Maloney, GrubHub co-founder and CEO. He will remain as CEO, while Seamless’ Jonathan Zabusky will serve as president. It was not disclosed under what name the new business will operate.
