Hungryhouse

hungryhouse.com LTD
IndustryOnline food ordering
Founded2006[1]
Defunct2018
HeadquartersLondon, England, UK
Area served
United Kingdom
ParentJust Eat
Delivery Hero (former)
Websitejust-eat.co.uk/hungryhouse

Hungryhouse.co.uk was an online takeaway food order and delivery service founded in 2006 and merged with Just Eat in 2018. It allowed users to search for restaurants and browse local takeaway menus before placing an order online and being delivered by the restaurant with a small service charge for using their service.

In January 2013, the company was bought by Berlin-based holding company Delivery Hero.[2] In February 2018, Hungry House became part of Just Eat following a successful merger. Hungry House ceased trading on 22 May 2018 and customers were diverted to Just Eat.[3]

History

Co-founders Shane Lake and Tony Charles founded Hungryhouse in 2003, launching the online platform in 2006. The co-founders appeared on BBC1’s investment show Dragons' Den [4] in 2007, with an offer of £100,000 investment coming from James Caan and Duncan Bannatyne.[5]

The investment deal with the Dragons later collapsed, with a £150,000 investment coming from alternative business angels.[6][7] The initial round of funding was used to expand the business, increasing Hungryhouse’s restaurant partners from 150 in 2007 to 2,500 in September 2010.[8]

In February 2013, it was announced that Hungryhouse was to be bought by the Berlin-based food ordering giant Delivery Hero, which operates in 16 countries and has a total of 60,000 restaurant partners.[9][10]

In December 2016, Just Eat announced that it was acquiring Hungryhouse from Delivery Hero for £200 million (with the possibility of a further £40 million if the company hits performance targets), subject to regulatory approval.[11] In May 2017, the proposed acquisition was referred to an in-depth phase 2 investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).[12] On 12 October 2017, CMA gave a preliminary approval for Just Eat to acquire its smaller rival.[13]

In April 2018, Hungry House announced it would cease trading on 22 May 2018 and merge with Just Eat.[14]

References

  1. ^ "About us". Hungryhouse. Retrieved 27 December 2013.
  2. ^ "Delivery Hero gobbles up UK rivals Hungryhouse and Eatitnow". Venturevillage.eu. 29 January 2013. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  3. ^ Holt, Molly; Rodger, James (22 May 2018). "Hungryhouse shutting down after 12 years - here's why it will stop taking orders". mirror.
  4. ^ "Dragons' Den - Entrepreneurs - Shane Lake & Tony Charles". BBC. 1 January 1970. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  5. ^ "Seven Dragons' Den 'failures' that went on to earn millions". 21 August 2017 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  6. ^ "HungryHouse.co.uk Dragon's Den investment falls through. The best thing that could happen to them?". Archived from the original on 28 August 2013. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  7. ^ Top 3 Rejected Products That Made Millions | Vol.2 | Dragons' Den, retrieved 9 April 2023
  8. ^ "about hungryhouse". hungryhouse. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  9. ^ Matt Brian (29 January 2013). "Online Food Ordering Startup Delivery Hero Fully Acquires Hungryhouse". Thenextweb.com. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  10. ^ "The Easiest Way to Your Favourite Food". Delivery Hero. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  11. ^ "Just Eat gobbles up Hungry House and SkipTheDishes". BBC.co.uk. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  12. ^ "Just Eat and Hungryhouse merger faces competition probe". BBC News. 19 May 2017. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  13. ^ Lynch, Russell (13 October 2017). "Just Eat gets go-ahead to swallow Hungryhouse". Evening Standard. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  14. ^ "Just Eat has purchased hungryhouse to bring you your best takeaway ever". Just Eat. Retrieved 30 April 2020.