Craveable Restaurant Experiences
When Resy announced it was being acquired by American Express, the deal capped off an exhilarating, four-year journey from start-up to exit. From its earliest days, Davis+Gilbert represented the digital restaurant reservation booking and management platform in its mission to elevate dining experiences worldwide. By the time Amex entered, Resy’s platform was enabling 4,000 restaurants in 154 U.S. cities and 10 countries to seat more than 2.6 million diners each week. In offering users access to hard-to-book restaurant access, Resy was an ideal platform for Amex to deliver digital access to a wider array of exclusive benefits and programs to cardmembers.
Navigating the Complexities of Luxury Hospitality
Throughout the company’s lifecycle, Resy’s goal was ambitious: to re-imagine the future of dining with an end-to-end global platform that would appeal to two very distinct audiences: restaurants and diners. Drawing on our deep hospitality industry experience, our team understood Resy’s goals and pinpointed the specific challenges and opportunities that exist in the luxury restaurant space.
Strategic Acquisitions and Investments Fuel Rapid Growth
From its earliest days, Resy grew both organically and through a series of venture capital financings and strategic acquisitions, through which we guided them. We advised on early and transformative investments from RSE Ventures and VaynerRSE investment fund. A financing deal and strategic partnership with Airbnb and other industry investors quickly followed. We also helped the company position itself to attract and retain top-level talent with well-executed employment contracts and competitive executive equity programs.
IP Protection is Paramount
In a short time, Resy expanded into new markets across the U.S. and globally, becoming the second-largest restaurant reservation platform next to OpenTable. We protected Resy’s proprietary technology and enforced its IP trademarks as it entered into complex digital, e-commerce and licensing agreements, innovative advertising promotions, and influencer partnerships. And our digital media, technology and privacy team guided the company in navigating strict international data laws and in developing compliant website terms and conditions and privacy policies that resonated with its customer base.
Dining Analytics is Big Business
Resy gave restaurants a new way to integrate their table reservation and customer data and metrics. This technology provided a turnkey and efficient way to analyze diner behaviors while planning for their busiest days and hours. Though Resy was an attractive target to many potential acquirors, Amex quickly demonstrated it was the right fit, enabling Resy to preserve its successful team and unique company culture.