Vebu Labs

Automation and robotics are finally creating solutions for the complexities of doorstep deliveries.

Last-mile Delivery Automation

Serve Robotics started as the in-house delivery droid project of online food delivery operator Postmates in 2018 and was spun off as a standalone startup in March 2021. It offers a sidewalk delivery robot that uses a combination of ultrasonics, LiDAR, sonar, computer vision, time-of-flight cameras, GPS, and AI-based computing to navigate at Level 4 autonomy (i.e., fully autonomous but limited to specific locations or conditions)—<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/7789">an industry first.</a> Serve Robotics’&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/34905">third-gen droid</a> can carry up to 57.5 lbs. traveling 48 miles on a single charge, at a maximum speed of 11 mph.Serve Robotics’ operations span across geographies including California&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/30883">(Los Angeles),</a> Texas (Dallas), Canada, and&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/13502">Australia.</a> The company claimed to have completed 20,000+ commercial deliveries as of February 2023. The company anticipates deploying up to 2,000 robots on the Uber Eats platform across multiple US markets in 2025.The company generated revenue of USD 207,545 and incurred an operating loss of USD 20.7 million in 2023.Key customers and partnershipsServe Robotics’ deployment partners included&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/41">Pink Dot,</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/18949">Uber Eats,</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/9542">Brinker International,</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/11467">Piestro,</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/13258">Pizza Hut Canada,</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/15980">7-Eleven,</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/32625">Shake Shack</a> (through Uber Eats), and&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/34250">Wing</a> (Alphabet's drone delivery unit).The company has product partnerships with 1) DriveU.auto to integrate the latter’s teleoperation and connectivity platform into its droids <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/30015">(June 2024); </a>2) automotive supplier Magna International, to manufacture delivery droids <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/28773">(April 2024); </a>3) Ottopia, an Israeli company developing remote assistive tech for autonomous vehicles, to integrate teleoperation software in its delivery droids <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/22173">(September 2023); </a>and 4) LiDAR maker Ouster to obtain LiDAR sensors for its robots (January 2022; expanded in <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/30883">June 2024).&nbsp;</a>

Serve Robotics develops self-driving robotic carriers to deliver and serve food. The company's zero-emissions rovers are designed to serve people in public spaces, starting with food delivery. It also partners with platforms and merchants to help local businesses reach more customers.

Born in the intersection of Silicon Valley and Southeast Asia, Talino Venture Labs is on a mission to bridge the $5.2 trillion financial inclusion gap for over 1.7 billion people around the world. Talino Venture Labs uses the successful venture studio model to build repeatable, scalable, and profitable fintechs that empower underserved, underrepresented groups around the world with financial access and mobility. Our proprietary tech stack, Talino Financial Inclusion Technology (Talino FIT), is already being used by financial institutions across our existing startups, impacting 10 million users across Asia and the United States. Talino FIT gives us the capability to build, deploy, and scale new technologies and businesses with greater agility and efficiency.

Vebu Labs is a full-stack automation and robotics company specializing in product development to automate the food supply chain. It offers automation opportunity discovery, food product development, prototype development, roadmap, feasibility report, and timeline projections to market effectively and improve online presence.

Vebu Labs, acquired by Serve Robotics&nbsp;<a href="https://investors.serverobotics.com/news-releases/news-release-details/serve-robotics-acquire-autocado-robot-maker-vebu-expanding">in November 2024,</a> manufactures “Autocado,” a robotic system that automates avocado processing for restaurant kitchens. The Autocado can hold up to 25 pounds of avocados at once and handles cutting, coring, and peeling operations, reportedly reducing guacamole preparation time by up to 50% from the traditional 50-minute process. The company's technology leverages AI and machine learning capabilities to evaluate food quality and quantify waste reduction in food processing operations.

VC Associate @ Wavemaker Labs in El Segundo, CA

Vebu Labs steals spotlight with Chipotle's avocado-peeling 'Autocado'

‘It’s Tough for Robotic Companies’: VCs Talk About the Funding Landscape for Food Automation

Helping restaurants become more safe, more profitable, and more interesting.

Restaurant Industry Robotics

Serve Robotics

Serve Robotics acquired Vebu, the creator of the "Autocado" avocado-processing robot, in an all-stock transaction. Vebu will continue to operate independently upon acquisition. Autocado can automatically process up to 25 pounds of avocados, and was being pilot-tested at a Chipotle location in California. 

Robots that pick, place, slice, and butcher fruits, vegetables, meats and other food products. Also includes companies that develop robots for picking, placement, and dispensing of processed foods (ex: cake decorating).

Chipotle Mexican Grill

To automate avocado processing and enhance digital ordering efficiency, Chipotle partners with Vebu and Hyphen, leveraging cobotic technology and automation to improve operations and customer experience.

Western Technology Investment

Uber

Wavemaker Partners

Delivery Hero

7-Ventures LLC

Think + Ventures

One Planet Group

Coughdrop Capital

Bossanova Investimentos

Delivery Hero Ventures

Pitbull Ventures

Great Circle Ventures

Essential Capital

Refers to autonomous vehicles that use pedestrian walkways and travel a little faster than average walking speed (generally 3-6 miles an hour). These vehicles can usually carry up to around 20 lb. and use a camera, radar, and sensors to move autonomously. 

Talino Venture Labs

Foxmont Capital Partners

Manila Angel Investors Network

Vebu Labs, founded in 2022 by Buck Jordan, is a Los Angeles-based technology startup specializing in automation solutions for the food industry. The company focuses on developing custom robotic systems to address specific pain points in restaurant operations. Vebu Labs' approach involves studying the back-of-house processes of restaurants to propose tailored automated or robotic solutions that enhance efficiency and ease labor pressures. One of their notable creations is the "Autocado," an automated system designed for Chipotle to peel, core, and scoop avocados for guacamole preparation, potentially reducing the process time by half. As of July 2023, Vebu Labs employed approximately 65 people and was actively seeking expansion. The company's business model includes collaborating with large restaurant chains to develop automation roadmaps, creating proprietary robotic products, and expanding into manufacturing. Vebu Labs aims to offer "bespoke automation" solutions that can be adapted for multiple uses, focusing on smaller-risk projects that don't require extensive multi-year rollouts or substantial investments.
Key customers and partnerships
Vebu Labs has established a partnership with Chipotle Mexican Grill, which made an investment in the company through its Cultivate Now venture fund. This collaboration led to the development of the Autocado system, which was undergoing testing at Chipotle's Cultivate Center in Irvine, California. The company has also been involved in engineering automated systems for Bobacino, an automated boba-bar concept, and Piestro, a pizza-making machine developer. Vebu Labs aims to work with restaurant companies of similar scale to Chipotle, offering them customized automation solutions.

Vebu Labs, acquired by Serve Robotics&nbsp;<a href="https://investors.serverobotics.com/news-releases/news-release-details/serve-robotics-acquire-autocado-robot-maker-vebu-expanding">in November 2024,</a> manufactures “Autocado,” a robotic system that automates avocado processing for restaurant kitchens. The Autocado can hold up to 25 pounds of avocados at once and handles cutting, coring, and peeling operations, reportedly reducing guacamole preparation time by up to 50% from the traditional 50-minute process. The company's technology leverages AI and machine learning capabilities to evaluate food quality and quantify waste reduction in food processing operations.Key customers and partnershipsVebu's primary customer relationship is with Chipotle Mexican Grill, where its Autocado robot underwent pilot testing at the Chipotle Cultivate Center in Irvine (July 2023) and a Huntington Beach restaurant location (September 2024).&nbsp;Key competitors: None comparable&nbsp;(Vebu Labs is the only startup in the Restaurant Industry Robotics hub that offers solutions to automate avocado processing).

<div>
 
 Dexai Robotics developed a robotic arm known as “Alfred” that works as a flexible food-preparation assistant using artificial intelligence and computer vision technologies. Alfred is a plug-and-play solution for restaurants and can be used to prepare salads and food bowls, without any alteration to restaurants’ layouts or recipes. The robot debuted in the 2019 Web Summit in Portugal, serving  2,500+ attendees over the course of two days. The company offers its services on a robotics-as-a-service (RaaS) basis, where customers are charged a flat fee for dishes the robot prepares.
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 The company has partnerships with the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) to install the robots at 10 military locations across the US 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/8680">
 (February 2022)
 </a>
 and with Boston-based Mediterranean restaurant Bonapita to deploy its robot to prepare salads and other food bowls at the latter’s restaurant 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/10059">
 (April 2022).
 </a>
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 In August 2022, Dexai Robotics 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/12258">
 raised USD 6.7 million
 </a>
 in funding. Previously in March 2020, it raised USD 5.5 million in a seed funding round led by Hyperplane Venture Capita to expand its engineering, sales, and product teams.
 
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Dexai Robotics

Miso Robotics offers a range of kitchen automation solutions and a software platform that powers its robots (the latter as a standalone service). The company’s latest product line includes second-generation burger-flipping robot “Flippy 2,” high-volume chicken-wing-frying robot “Flippy Wings,” frying and seasoning robot “Flippy Lite,” beverage-dispensing robot “Sippy,” and its cooking platform “CookRight.”- Flippy 2 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/6360">(introduced in November 2021) </a>can load, fry, and place the items in a hot holding area without assistance and can handle up to 60 baskets per hour—a 30% increase compared to its original version. This is the latest version of the original Flippy introduced in 2018, which had a price tag of USD 60,000 and was later reduced to USD 30,000 with the introduction of the upgraded Flippy ROAR (robot on a rail) that places the Flippy robot arm on an inverted rail, enabling it to move along a line of kitchen equipment.- Flippy Wings ( <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/6135">introduced in October 2021) </a>is a robotic chicken wing frying solution. It identifies the food using AI vision technology, and can pick it up, cook, and drop the food into a hot holding area. The company reports that the robot increases food production speeds by 10%–20%. Both the models are equipped with its “AutoBin” system—an array of customizable food-safe bins into which the food is dropped to be cooked.- Flippy Lite (introduced in March 2022) focuses on a single product that needs seasoning and finishing.- Sippy <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/2556">(announced in June 2021) </a>is a beverage dispensing robot developed in partnership with beverage dispensers manufacturer Lancer Worldwide and is equipped with a fully-automated conveyor system that moves cups along the Sippy unit to dispense drinks. Sippy directly integrates with a point-of-sale system, which triggers the beverage-making process including selecting the appropriate sized cup and pouring and sealing the drink while ensuring appropriate delivery of orders.- CookRight (launched in May 2021) is an AI and machine learning-driven cooking platform that includes a user interface tablet, two cameras, and a small computer. CookRight focuses on grill-based cooking and is capable of tracking food items on a grill for precision-level cooking and sends alerts to kitchen staff when an action is needed. The platform is also capable of managing the food serving workflow to ensure freshness and correct assembly of orders. Miso Robotics also launched “CookRight Coffee,” a coffee monitoring system powered by the platform in <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/9725">April 2022.&nbsp;</a>As of April 2022, the company had commercialized its Flippy 2 robots, while Flippy Wings, Flippy Lite, and Sippy were available for reservation. Its products are available on a robotics-as-a-service (RaaS) basis—Flippy and Flippy 2 Wings are offered to customers starting at USD 3,000 per month (fees related to other products were not made available as of April 2022). The CookRight platform is offered as a standalone software-as-a-service (SaaS) offering for restaurants at a monthly subscription of USD 100.Key customers and partnershipsMiso Robotics’ partners to deploy its various robotic offerings include <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/8509">White Castle, </a>CaliBurger, Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, Chase Field in Phoenix, <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/2541">Brooklyn Dumpling Shop </a>, <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/9156">Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurants </a>(a customized version dubbed “Chippy” to cook tortilla chips), <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/6135">Inspire Brands-owned </a>Buffalo Wild Wings and Alliance Kitchen, <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/9725">Panera Bread, </a><a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/9940">Jack in the Box, </a><a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/10692">Wing Zone,&nbsp;</a> &nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/11139">Americana Restaurants, </a>and <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/11567">Wings and Rings. </a>In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/25118">December 2023 </a>, Miso Robotics partnered with restaurant technology company Cali Group and PopID, a developer of identity verification solutions, to launch an automated restaurant named CaliExpress in Pasadena, California.The company also has a June 2022 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/10929">partnership with Amazon Web Services </a>(AWS) to test its software powering Flippy 2 and Flippy Lite at scale, using AWS RoboMaker, a cloud-based simulation service and an&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/35619">October 2024</a> partnership with NVIDIA to integrate accelerated computing and robotics technologies into its next-generation Flippy Fry Stations.Funding and FinancialsMiso Robotics reported revenues of USD 253,000 during the year ended December 2020 (up 153% YoY) but has yet to reach profitability. The company opened its Series E funding round <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/8185">in February 2022, </a>aiming to raise USD 40 million at a valuation of USD 500 million. The round, having raised USD 20+ million, was <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/12340">extended in August 2022 </a>to scale up its commercial manufacturing and international operations. In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/18705">May 2023 </a>, Miso Robotics received a multi-million dollar investment from Ecolab, a global provider of water, hygiene, and energy technologies. The company intends to utilize the funds to support operational growth and innovation.&nbsp;

Miso Robotics

MiFood designs and manufactures a fully automated robotic chef for restaurants that can prepare burgers and hotdogs. The company has offices in Spain, Poland, and the US.

MiFood

Endurance is a Russian-American technology startup offering robots, lasers, and chatbots. Under its robotics solutions, it provides customer-based robotics systems such as telepresence systems, robot waiters, and truckbots.

Endurance

<div>
 
 Blendid (also known as 6d bytes) offers a smoothie-making robotic kiosk that uses machine learning and computer vision to blend fruit drinks. The system is a plug-and-play solution that can be set up on-site in food-service operations. The kiosk comes with a robotic arm, blenders, refrigerators, and dispensers to store and dispense ingredients. It can produce up to 45 drinks per hour and nine drinks simultaneously. Customers can place orders via its mobile app or Blendid tablets, and the robot generally prepares the drink in under two minutes for a price of USD 5&ndash;USD 6 (for a 12-ounce drink). Blendid&rsquo;s kiosks operate at universities, retail outlets such as 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/2529">
 Walmart,
 </a>
 and at juice maker Jamba&rsquo;s co-branded locations including Walmart stores, a shopping mall, a university,
 a 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/15502">
 hospital
 </a>
 and 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/11829">
 Love&rsquo;s Travel Stop locations
 </a>
 in California, as well as 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/8519">
 two universities in Georgia.
 </a>
 
 
 As per the company, it has generated USD 149,624 in total revenue since inception, with USD 64,449 generated in FY2020 (ending October 31st). However, annual net losses have been in the USD 3-USD 4 million range during FY2018-FY2020. Salary and benefits accounted for around half of total operating expenses in FY2020, while non-payroll research and development&rsquo;s (R&amp;D&rsquo;s) share of operating expenses had declined to less than 20% from almost 50% in 2018. As of October 31st, 2020, the company had USD 2.1 million in cash on hand and an average quarterly burn rate of USD 910,000
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/5410">
 .
 </a>
 
 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/5410">
 In September 2021,
 </a>
 Blendid raised USD 2 million through equity crowdfunding at a valuation of almost USD 50 million. The company intended to utilize the funds to fast track its geographical expansion into Southern California and Georgia by opening in a range of locations including malls, airports, hospitals, universities, and retail outlets.
 
</div>

Blendid

Robotic solutions for restaurant services such as waiting tables, bussing tables, dishwashing, kitchen preparation, food quality check, and staff training.

Robotic solutions for pizza, burger and hotdog preparation.

Robotic solutions for salad and food bowl (pasta, ramen etc) preparation.

Robotic solutions for coffee, tea, soda, and smoothie preparation.

The majority of companies in the industry use robotics technology

Some companies in the industry uses AI and ML-based robotic solutions

INCUMBENTS_PRESENT

PROMINENT_CATEGORY

<div>
 Fast-casual restaurant chain Chipotle has collaborated with Vebu and Hyphen to create two robotic food preparation systems. The "Autocado," developed by Vebu, is designed to peel, cut and core avocados for guacamole production. Hyphen, on the other hand, developed the "Augmented Makeline," a system that automates the assembly of bowls and salads. These systems are currently being trialed in California stores with the goal of improving operational efficiency and reallocating staff to different tasks.
 The investment in Vebu and Hyphen by Chipotle was made via its USD 100 million venture fund, indicating the chain's interest in incorporating automation into its food preparation procedures.
</div>

Vebu Labs

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