Catering Company Thriver Acquired by Payroll & HR Solution Company Gusto

The idea of mergers and acquisitions is not uncommon, especially in the restaurant technology space. We see news about lots of consolidation, big guy comes in and buys a smaller guy, etc. I'm still trying to wrap my head around this recent news of Thriver joining Gusto.

Thriver logo: catering provider

Gusto logo: HR solutions

What is Thriver?

For those who may not know, Thriver is a catering provider out of Toronto. Thriver partners with local caterers, restaurants, and kitchens to supply meals to their clients in many different cities. Thriver started with the name Platterz, but then rebranded to the name Thriver when they raised their Series B round of $33 million in 2020.

What is Gusto?

On the other side of this we have Gusto, which is a bigger name than Thriver. Gusto can be described as provider of solutions for businesses providing HR, benefits, payroll, time keeping, hiring and onboarding, and more. Thriver is a private company, currently valued at roughly $9.5 billion.

Why Gusto and Thriver?

So, we have Thriver, which is essentially a caterer connecting clients with vendors, and we have Gusto who is providing HR solutions to businesses, and Gusto decides to buy them. Why? Well, I'm not 100% sure, but let's look at some of the facts:

Gusto and Thriver have clients that would potentially overlap

Thriver is providing catering, which in a lot of cases is an added benefit for the clients they work with, especially local offices. Gusto provides HR solutions, including benefits, for businesses. The cross over of both of them providing benefits to their clients is there, but to look at them as competitors is a stretch.

Both Gusto and Thriver compete in their own competitive industries

I'm not as familiar with the payroll and HR services industry, but what I do know is that there are many different players, big and small, specialized and general, and it seems to be a fairly crowded space. On the catering side, we know there are quite a few optiosn to choose from as a workplace. Multiple marketplace providers like ezCater, Cater2Me, CaterCow, Fooda, just to name a few, as well as just ordering directly from a restaurant/kitchen.

As Thriver joins Gusto, they will no longer be accessible

Through this transition, Thriver will no longer keep their Marketplace accessible. According to the letter on their website "We are sad to say goodbye to this side of the business, but equally excited about the opportunity to continue working on some of the tools we've built throughout the years.". Curious to know what sort of tools they will be utilizing for Gusto.

Final Thoughts of Why Gusto wanted Thriver

With all that said, the acquisition is a little strange to me. There doesn't seem to be a lot of coverage out about it as of this post. Gusto could be able to have their doors open to all the clients that worked with Thriver, but I don't think it would be that substantial to their business considering how much larger Gusto is to Thriver. Does this add some sort of benefit to Gusto's clients? Are they uniting to offer catering/workplace food as a business directly through Gusto? Maybe Gusto sees the growing catering market and wanted a piece. I guess only time will tell.

Cater on!