Tapingo

Tapingo
Founded2012; 12 years ago (2012)
HeadquartersSan Francisco, California
OwnerJust Eat Takeaway
ParentGrubhub Inc.
URLhome.tapingo.com
Native client(s) oniOS and Android

Tapingo was a mobile commerce application that offers advance ordering for pickup and food delivery services[1] for college campuses.[2] This functionality was merged into GrubHub mobile application after the acquisition.

The company was acquired by Grubhub in September 2018 for $150 million.[3]

Tapingo is differentiated from other on-demand delivery/logistics companies, such as Waiter.com, Postmates, or DoorDash,[4] by focusing its efforts on serving the college market. Through Tapingo, users can browse menus, place orders, pay for the meal and schedule the pickup or have it delivered.[5] On certain campuses, students are able to use their university's meal dollars to pay for food.[6]


In the spring of 2012, Tapingo first launched its services on five campuses (Santa Clara University, Loyola Marymount University, Biola University, the University of Maine, and California Lutheran University), and has since expanded to more than 200 college campuses across the U.S. and Canada, serving 100 markets.[7] To date, Tapingo has received venture funding from Carmel Ventures,[8] Khosla Ventures,[9] Kinzon Capital, DCM Ventures[10] and Qualcomm Ventures.[11][12][13]

In fall 2015, Tapingo announced expansion plans through major partnership deals with national brands like Chipotle Mexican Grill[14][15][16] and 7-Eleven,[17] regional restaurants such as Taco Bueno,[18] and global foodservice provider Aramark.[19][20]

  1. ^ "Tapingo Launches A Student-Run Delivery Service, Plus Other New Ordering Options". TechCrunch. Retrieved August 25, 2015.
  2. ^ "10 Essential Apps for College Students Living in Dorms and Off Campus". About.com.
  3. ^ Shoot, Brittany (26 September 2018). "Grubhub Just Bought This College Startup for $150 Million, Firing the Latest Shot in the Food Delivery Wars". Fortune. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
  4. ^ "Amazon launches restaurant delivery in Seattle". Nation’s Restaurant News. Retrieved September 8, 2015.
  5. ^ "Chipotle Delivery Option Coming To 40 U.S. Colleges Via Tapingo In The Fall". Forbes. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
  6. ^ Ramper, Johnny. "Tapingo: A Vision for Commerce - Z.E.N. Foods". zenfoods.com. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  7. ^ "Tapingo Announces Launch of Groundbreaking Mobile-Ordering Services at Aramark University Campuses". Yahoo Finance. Retrieved October 5, 2015.
  8. ^ "Tapingo". Carmel Ventures.
  9. ^ "Meet Ben Ling, investment partner at Khosla Ventures". Vator News.
  10. ^ "Tapingo". DCM Ventures.
  11. ^ "Tapingo". Qualcomm Ventures. Archived from the original on 2015-09-19.
  12. ^ "College Food App Raises Millions in Funding". Bloomberg Business. Retrieved April 2, 2015.
  13. ^ "Hungry? Tapingo aims to make ordering food a wallet-and-wait-free process". Venture Beat. Retrieved February 5, 2014.
  14. ^ "Chipotle will start delivering to 40 college campuses this fall". USA Today. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
  15. ^ "Chipotle Will Deliver to These 40 College Campuses This Fall". ABC News. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
  16. ^ "These 40 college campuses are getting Chipotle delivery". Business Insider. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
  17. ^ "7-ELEVEN® and Tapingo Announce Partnership to Bring On-Demand Delivery to the College Market". Yahoo Finance. Archived from the original on 2015-12-07. Retrieved Dec 2, 2015.
  18. ^ "Taco Bueno to offer its first delivery service". Dallas Business Journal. Retrieved October 2, 2015.
  19. ^ "Tapingo Announces Launch of Groundbreaking Mobile-Ordering Services at Aramark University Campuses". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 5, 2015.
  20. ^ "Tapingo Announces Launch of Groundbreaking Mobile-Ordering Services at Aramark University Campuses". The New York Times. Retrieved October 5, 2015.