Lightspeed Acquires UpServe for $430M - Expanding Restaurant Solutions

Lightspeed POS has recently finalized the purchase of Upserve, strengthening Lightspeed’s position within the restaurant sector.

The company currently provides cloud-based point-of-sale solutions for restaurants and a variety of other types of businesses. It initially became a publicly traded company in Canada and subsequently began trading on the New York Stock Exchange, following its earlier acquisition of ShopKeep for a sum of $440 million.

The Upserve acquisition will involve a payment of $123 million in cash from Lightspeed, in addition to stock, resulting in a total transaction value of approximately $430 million.

Upserve began in 2009 under the name Swipely, initially aiming to connect consumers through shared purchase data. The company then transitioned to developing tools for businesses related to payments, marketing, and customer loyalty programs, ultimately becoming known as Upserve with a concentrated focus on serving the restaurant industry. It had previously secured investment from Vista Equity Partners.

As stated in the official announcement, Upserve generated $40 million in revenue over the year concluding on September 30. This acquisition is also projected to expand Lightspeed’s reach by an additional 7,000 business locations.

“Integrating Upserve into Lightspeed represents a key strategic move in realizing our goal of delivering a leading-edge commerce platform to successful businesses globally,” stated Dax Dasilva, founder and CEO of Lightspeed. “We anticipate this acquisition will speed up the development of new products, helping our customers overcome the significant challenges facing their industry, and will bring valuable leadership to our teams as we look forward to the revitalization of the worldwide hospitality sector.”

The announcement further suggests that merging the resources and expertise of Lightspeed and Upserve will better equip the industry to adapt to evolving dining preferences that have been solidified by the COVID-19 pandemic.