Sam Nazarian buys food tech company Nextbite

Sam Nazarian, the hotel and nightclub mogul behind SBE Entertainment Group, has acquired food technology business Nextbite, expanding his portfolio of online ordering firms and brands, The Real Deal has learned. 

Nextbite, based in Los Angeles, partners delivery-only brands with restaurant kitchens to allow the branded foods to be made and delivered from the physical space. The firm currently has more than 15 brands on its roster, including Nathan’s hot dogs and restaurateur David Chang’s Fuku. 

Nazarian bought the firm personally and will continue to operate it as a standalone business, according to a release on Monday. 

Nextbite, which formerly operated as Ordermark, was asking about $30 million for the business, according to a source familiar with the matter. Nazarian declined to disclose how much he paid for it. 

Ordermark was founded by Alex Canter, the fourth generation to run L.A. staple Canter’s Deli. In 2020, Ordermark scored $120 million from Softbank’s second venture capital pool Vision Fund, which has also poured cash into TikTok parent ByteDance, hospitality chain Oyo and most famously WeWork. 

Softbank is no longer involved in Ordermark, according to Nazarian. 

Nazarian, who got his start opening up a nightclub in West Hollywood, spent the majority of his career building a portfolio of hotels. His first hospitality project was the SLS Hotel Beverly Hills. At one point, SBS owned the SLS, Delano and Mondrian brands, with an emphasis on property development. 

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But in 2020, Nazarian cashed out of the remaining 50 percent stake in his hotel business to Accor in a deal valued at around $850 million. Since then, he has focused on building up a line of restaurants and investing in ghost kitchens. 

Under one of SBE’s companies, C3, Nazarian already owns about 40 brands, which partner with physical kitchens to deliver food. In October, C3 partnered with TGI Fridays, which will allow the latter to make and deliver food from C3 brands and serve it on its menus. The same month, C3 scored a $10 million investment from Swiss venture capital firm Lurra Capital.