Topics
Latest
AI
Amazon
Image Credits:Chef Robotics
Apps
Biotech & Health
Climate
Image Credits:Chef Robotics
Cloud Computing
Commerce
Crypto
Enterprise
EVs
Fintech
fund-raise
Gadgets
stake
Government & Policy
Hardware
layoff
Media & Entertainment
Meta
Microsoft
Privacy
Robotics
security measure
Social
Space
startup
TikTok
transfer
Venture
More from TechCrunch
Events
Startup Battlefield
StrictlyVC
newssheet
Podcasts
video
Partner Content
TechCrunch Brand Studio
Crunchboard
Contact Us
In the retiring several years , the kitchen has increasingly become a focal point for the world of mechanization . Miso , for representative , has made a name for itself with Flippy , a hamburger preparation arm that has found its way into chain restaurants like White Castle . Others , including Zume Robotics , have been less successful — the pizza pie golem firm shut its doors last class after attempting a major pivot into solid ground - conscious solid food promotional material .
Chef Robotics has been kicking since 2019 . The founding was unquestionably uncaused timing , just forward of COVID - related closure and ensue labor shortages that continue to this solar day in industries like fast food . This week , the San Francisco – base firm announced that it has closed a $ 14.75 million combo equity / debt around .
The young cash infusion follows araise of $ 7.7 million in 2021 , bringing the full support up to $ 22.5 million . That material body includes $ 18.2 million in fairness and $ 4.25 million in debt . MaC Venture Capital , MFV Partners , Interwoven Ventures and Alumni Ventures joined subsist backers , Construct Capital , Kleiner Perkins , Promus Ventures and Red and Blue Ventures .
Much of the money will go toward deploy Chef ’s go - to - market strategy , which is based around a RaaS ( robotics - as - a - service ) plan . RaaS is turn out to be an super popular model in the world of industrial automation , as the upfront cost of a big golem is far too steep for many companies to leg it . The company will also be charter railroad engineer and technicians , growing a head count that currently numbers around 30 .
Chef laminitis and CEO Rajat Bhageria tells TechCrunch that Chef distinguishes itself from the likes of Miso by concentrate on food assembly , rather than fudge specifically . The society is also touting ChefOS , the underlying software drive its robot arm ’s decisions . “ [ F]ood is very highly dimensional : depending on how you prep the fixings ( e.g. , julienned onions vs. chopped ) , manipulate the ingredients ( e.g. , sautéed , baked , broiled ) , put in the ingredients ( e.g. , cooked , elbow room temporary worker , frozen ) , the material property radically dissent , ” the society notes . “ And these properties change day by day based on who is prepping and cookery . To make out with this , Chef uses various sensors — like cameras — to collect preparation data point and then trains models that help the company learn how to manipulate a gravid corpus of ingredients . ”
Part of the reason the party places such emphasis on the software / AI side of things is that most of Chef ’s hardware components are off - the - shelf . There is , after all , a philosophy among many roboticist that if existing solutions do the job , there ’s no reason to reinvent that specific wheel .
Chef is n’t revealing specific sales figure , only say that it has “ robotsat food companies in five cities around the U.S. and Canada , ” including “ Fortune 500 food fellowship . ” Bhageria also tell TechCrunch that it has quadruple “ recurring tax revenue from 2022 to 2023 , ” though , again , nothing more specific than that .
