Mr Yum’s brand name dropped in new-look merger with me&u

You can split a main, but you can’t split a name. Just ask restaurant ordering startup Mr Yum, which has officially dropped its branding after a blockbuster merger with former rival me&u.

The team-up between both companies has been completed, and the new joint venture will carry forward as me&u, the newly-titled company announced Wednesday.

Mr Yum co-founder Kim Teo will carry on as the venture’s CEO, working alongside me&u’s original founder Stevan Premutico in the fresh operation.

The agreement signals the end of a brand name synonymous with QR-code table ordering, restaurant CRM systems, and tech-powered hospitality marketing.

But its new name, and the merger underpinning the venture’s new brand identity, settles years of competition between the two firms.

“It makes a lot of sense from a business point of view to stop butting heads and start working together”, Teo said in a written statement.

“But it makes even more sense from a customer perspective because we have the opportunity to build a best-of-the-best product that venues and their guests love.”

The combined venture processes around 2 billion hospitality transactions worldwide each year, and services a combined restaurants, cafes, pubs, and other dining outposts.

While the founders bill me&u’s new structure as a common-sense approach from two former rivals, the merger came after a difficult period for each startup as they operated independently.

Mr Yum undertook layoffs in August last year, as dimming market expectations made it difficult for the brand — which has raised in excess of $100 million in capital — to continue its original expansion plans.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports me&u itself laid off 20 staff in July 2022, in what chief executive Katrina Barry said was an attempt to become more capital efficient.

Product and engineering staff now make up a greater percentage of the venture’s headcount than before the merger, the company said.

With the ink now dry on the merger, me&u says no major changes to the company will occur before the 2023 summer rush.

Me&u is “laser-focused on making sure this is a successful holiday season,” Teo said.