If you’ve ever placed an online order at a chain restaurant, it’s likely the order passed through Olo, a 20-year-old restaurant ordering and payments company that works with hundreds of restaurant brands. Olo went public in pandemic-fueled, SaaS-friendly 2021, but more recently was rumored to be exploring a sale.
Now, it’s official: Just before the holiday weekend, Olo announced its imminent departure from the public market. Thoma Bravo, a private equity firm that invests in software companies, will buy the company in a $2 billion all-cash transaction expected to close before the end of the year. But don’t expect a leadership change; Olo is still founder-led, even after two decades. And founder and CEO Noah Glass plans to keep control.
“I’m staying CEO and plan to do so for the long haul,” Glass told me over email. “This is more than a job for me. Over these past 20 years, I’ve come to understand it as my Ikigai/life purpose. It’s my calling to help restaurants through the digital transformation and to elevate hospitality in parallel.”
Olo’s new parent seems to agree. In a statement, Peter Hernandez, a Thoma Bravo exec, called Glass “a visionary who helped create the digital ordering category for restaurants.”