Pear is an early-stage venture fund founded by Pejman Nozad and Mar Hershenson. Their co-founding managers have historically seeded very early stage tech start-ups such as Doordash, Guardant Health, Gusto, Viz.ai, Dropbox, Lending Club, Vanta, Zoosk, Addepar, Path and many others. Their motto is simple: they invest in exceptional founders who are building amazing companies. They utilize every resource they have to assist their founders and entrepreneurs shape the future.

Pear VC

General Catalyst is a venture capital firm that provides early-stage and growth equity investments. The company provides ongoing momentum that accelerates ideas, careers, and companies toward standout success.

General Catalyst

Founded in 2016, Fifth Wall, a Certified B Corporation, is the largest venture capital firm focused on technology for the global real estate industry. With approximately $3.0 billion in commitments and capital under management, Fifth Wall connects many of the world's largest owners and operators of real estate with the entrepreneurs who are redefining the future of the Built World. Fifth Wall is backed by a global mix of more than 90 strategic limited partners (LPs) from more than 15 countries, including BNP Paribas Real Estate, British Land, CBRE, Cushman & Wakefield, Host Hotels & Resorts, Kimco Realty Corporation, Lennar, Lowe's Home Improvement, Marriott International, MetLife Investment Management, Related Companies, Starwood Capital, Toll Brothers, and others. Fifth Wall believes this consortium represents one of the largest groups of potential partners in the global Built World ecosystem, which can result in transformational investments and collaborations with promising portfolio companies. For more information about Fifth Wall, its LPs, and portfolio, visit www.fifthwall.com.

Fifth Wall

Human Capital is a venture firm for builders. We believe ambitious builders turn great ideas into great companies. We invest in founders, teams, and startups that share this mindset. In the last 6 years, that mantra has led us to invest in 15 companies before they became unicorns, including Snowflake, Anduril, Livongo, and Brex (where we wrote the first check). We have over $1.3B in total capital committed and we've built a community of over 5,000 incredible, driven, ambitious builders.

Human Capital

Penny Jar Capital is an early-stage venture capital firm anchored by Stephen Curry, investing in exceptional founders and industry-defining tech companies.

Penny Jar Capital

Local Kitchens

Local Kitchens is a micro food hall that provides convenient pickup and delivery in one location. Guests can order from multiple brands on the same bill, making it ideal for groups, families, or anyone seeking variety. The company facilitates the digitalization of the restaurant industry while providing high-quality food options to families in every neighborhood. With its network of micro food halls, it also assists local restaurants in expanding into new cities.

Local Kitchens operates as a multi-brand restaurant platform and a micro food hall that brings together a curated selection of local restaurants and chefs under one roof. Through its technology-enabled kitchens, the company prepares food from multiple restaurant brands in a single location, with each kitchen staffed by Local Kitchens' employees who are trained directly by the partner restaurants to maintain quality and consistency. As of September 2024, Local Kitchens operated 13 locations across Northern California, achieving unit-level profitability and serving 10% of San Francisco Bay Area households&nbsp;

Defining the future of the restaurant business.

Cloud Kitchens

Micro food hall Local Kitchens outlines plans for local sites after raising $40 million

Local Kitchens operates as a multi-brand restaurant platform and a micro food hall that brings together a curated selection of local restaurants and chefs under one roof. Through its technology-enabled kitchens, the company prepares food from multiple restaurant brands in a single location, with each kitchen staffed by Local Kitchens' employees who are trained directly by the partner restaurants to maintain quality and consistency. As of September 2024, Local Kitchens operated 13 locations across Northern California, achieving unit-level profitability and serving 10% of San Francisco Bay Area households&nbsp;The company partners with prominent restaurants and chefs, offering their signature dishes through a mix-and-match ordering system where customers can combine items from different restaurants in a single order.&nbsp;Local Kitchens also maintains physical storefronts with dine-in spaces while also offering takeout and delivery services. Customers can order from the company’s in-store kiosk, the app, or from the website, integrating multiple brands into one order. LocalKitchens partners with DoorDash for deliveries.Key customers and partnershipsIn September 2024, Local Kitchens partnered with celebrity chef Alvin Cailan to launch Sweet Onion Burger across all its locations. In August 2024, the company introduced Yalla Falafel in collaboration with James Beard semifinalist chef Einat Admony at 11 of its locations.&nbsp;

<div>
 
 Sweetheart Kitchen is a Dubai-based independent cloud kitchen that owns and operates its own brands. As of February 2022, the company offered 21 cuisine-specific, quick-service food brands across the UAE and Kuwait.
 
 
 The company does not partner with third-party restaurants looking to outsource their delivery volumes but has linked up with third-party aggregators in the region such as Talabat, Zomato, and Carriage for delivery. 
 
 
 In February 2021, the company launched a loyalty program to provide customers with immediate ‘data-based’ rewards with a view to incentivizing specific behaviors such as increasing Average Order Value and frequency of purchase.
 
 
 In October 2020, the company raised USD 17.7 million in a Series C funding round led by Sweetheart Kitchen CEO Peter Schatzberg, with plans to dedicate the funds to launching additional brands and expansion in the UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. To date, the company has received total funding of USD 42.2 million. The company has not revealed any plans to expand to the US or European markets.
 
</div>

Sweetheart Kitchen

REEF Technology (formerly known as ParkJockey Global) is an operator of parking real estate and delivery kitchens in North America. The company transforms urban spaces into community hubs by setting up cloud kitchens, healthcare clinics, retail outlets, and other services in empty parking spaces.&nbsp;REEF kitchens is the company’s turnkey expansion solution for restaurateurs. These are purpose-built commercial kitchens that prepare food ordered online for delivery and pick-up. Each kitchen prepares food for three to five restaurant brands, and REEF manages all operational requirements on behalf of restaurant owners including staffing and day-to-day kitchen management. The kitchens operate under a license model as opposed to a flat fee.&nbsp;The company’s brand portfolio includes food brands like Wow Bao, Wayback Burgers, Firenza, Saladworks, and Capriottis and is supplied by Collectiv Food and Crate to Plate. For delivery, the company has partnered with Grubhub, Deliveroo, Postmates, and UberEats.In January 2022, the company temporarily shut down a third of its locations (around 95 sites) due to underperformance and a number of operational challenges including labor shortages, high costs, incomplete permits, and difficulties connecting to utilities. In March 2023, Reef announced plans to discontinue operations of its unprofitable ghost kitchen facilities in a strategic move that focuses on profitability. The company instead planned to increase its focus on licensing its technology to venues such as airports and stadiums. In&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/33243">August 2024</a>, the company announced plans to close three New York-based facilities with plans to pivot away from ghost kitchens toward micro-fulfillment and technology services.Key customers and partnershipsIn December 2021, REEF acquired 2ndKitchen, a US-based virtual kitchen for hotels, offices, buildings, and other hospitality companies. 2ndKitchen’s existing business will be combined with REEF's brand and will operate under its hospitality division. In November 2021, the company announced the acquisition of iKcon Restaurant LLC, a Dubai-based cloud kitchen operator, marking its first major transaction in the MENA market.&nbsp;REEF also strengthens its reach and customer base through partnerships with other players in the broader cloud kitchen ecosystem including Creating Culinary Communities (C3) and JustKitchen. REEF currently carries C3 brands in its cloud kitchens, and has a partnership with JustKitchen to launch its “Another Wing” brand in South-East Asia. In July 2022 Reef partnered with HUBB Kitchens, a North Carolina-based cloud kitchen facility provider to open a virtual food hall in the Raleigh-Durham International Airport in North Carolina.&nbsp;In March 2022, the company announced a&nbsp;partnership with the fast-casual Mexican restaurant QDOBA to launch 25 pilot locations in Seattle, Austin, and Atlanta.&nbsp;In August 2021, the company partnered with the American fast food chain Wendy’s to&nbsp;open 700 delivery Kitchens across the US, Canada, and the UK by 2025. In May 2023, the two companies announced plans to close down all Wendy’s cloud kitchen locations in the US.&nbsp;In March 2022, the company launched its first fine-dining collaboration with The One Group for its upscale concepts STK, Kona Grill and Bao Yum.

REEF Technology

Combo Kitchen is a Miami-based cloud kitchen partner that connects restaurant brands to franchisees, enabling food entrepreneurs to select and prepare established delivery-only food brands. Combo Kitchen was founded by Hossein Kasmai, the CEO and founder of Franchise Creator Inc., a Miami-based franchise consulting firm.Restaurant owners are invited to join the Combo Kitchen network of concepts, with the intention of expanding their footprint in new markets, growing brand awareness, and increasing foot traffic to key locations. As of February 2022, Combo Kitchen’s network included 28 restaurant brands, including Saladworks, Memphis Wings, Ramen Lab, and Poke Sushi Bowl. With restaurant partners, Combo Kitchen acts as a support team, freeing restaurateurs to only focus on training franchisees in menu preparation.For franchisees (often independent restaurants, bakeries, and cafes with their own kitchen spaces), Combo Kitchen provides support with location scouting, kitchen design and construction, advertising, and POS integrations. By incorporating multiple brands, franchisees are able to grow revenues while leveraging the same kitchen infrastructure. In turn, franchisees submit a one-time entrance fee to join the Combo Kitchen network and pay royalties to Combo Kitchen and the owners of the concepts in exchange for the rights to operate multiple brands in one kitchen.The company has partnered with major third-party food delivery providers such as UberEats, GrubHub, and DoorDash.

Combo Kitchen

Crave Hospitality Group is an independent cloud kitchen operator that provides delivery-only restaurant brands. The company’s virtual brands include The Flying Rooster, Madre's Flatbread, Big Reds Burgers &amp; Grill, Brownstone Pizza, The Red Crane, and The Twisted Cactus.The company was initially known for its food delivery company (“Crave Delivery”) before it decided to change its business model by launching into cloud kitchens (“Crave Collective”) in November 2020. As of September 2023, the company operates 4 kitchen locations.The company’s business is powered by its own proprietary software (“Crave Technology”) for multi-brand management, restaurant point-of-sale, kiosk and mobile ordering as well as operational support, driver logistics, and analytics. Crave Technology can also be licensed by national and regional restaurant groups looking for an opportunity to scale.Unlike other cloud operations, Crave does not partner with third-party delivery companies and instead employs its own staff to undertake delivery. The company also employs a large crew of mobile servers to engage with customers during pick-up, as well as customer service reps who answer phone calls. Crave conducts regular surveys on menu preferences and pricing, adjusting recipes and approaches in line with customer insights.In July 2021, the company estimated that its Boise location was generating USD 500,000 in monthly revenues.Since 2019, the company has received 4 rounds of funding amounting to USD 16.5 million. The latest round was in July 2021 when the company raised USD 3.3 million in seed funding. Prior to that, in March 2021, the company raised USD 4.9 million in a seed round led by early-stage investment fund StageDotO Ventures. Crave has leveraged these infusions for the expansion of its cloud kitchen operations and its licensing initiative for Crave Technology.

Crave Hospitality Group

Kitchen Republic is an Amsterdam-based cloud kitchen provider that offers food and drink entrepreneurs dedicated production spaces and access to high-quality equipment, alongside dedicated refrigeration and storage space. As of February 2022, there were 90 unique food brands listed as Kitchen Republic members, including Sauer Crowd, Vagabond, The Food Ninja, and Cultcha Kombucha.Compared to other cloud kitchen platforms, Kitchen Republic does not have a central location with easy access to large urban populations. This has effectively prevented partnerships with third-party delivery platforms like UberEats and Deliveroo. Instead, the company’s location in Amsterdam West is more suited to restaurateurs with their own delivery platform.

Kitchen Republic

Kitchen infrastructure companies that provide purpose-built commercial kitchens as a turnkey expansion solution and also manage end-to-end operations on behalf of restaurateurs and food entrepreneurs (e.g. recipe-based food preparation, staffing and day-to-day kitchen management).

Players in this segment focus on creating virtual restaurant concepts or digital food brands, usually chef-created or celebrity-inspired, for licensing or franchising by third-party kitchens. These companies do not usually have their own kitchen facilities but partner with restaurant franchisees that prepare the meals using underutilized space in their existing kitchens.

Players in this segment are companies that wholly own and prepare several delivery-only food brands. Meals are either prepared in an independently-owned kitchen facility or through underutilized third-party kitchens using the cloud kitchen’s own staff. These food brands are not available for licensing or franchising by third-party kitchens.

Kitchen infrastructure companies that offer restaurateurs and food entrepreneurs purpose-built commercial kitchens (both private and shared spaces) as a turnkey expansion solution.

Some companies provide B2B SaaS solutions for restaurants to manage their cloud kitchen orders

<div>
 Cloud kitchen operator Local Kitchens from San Francisco has secured USD 40 million in a Series B financing round spearheaded by General Catalyst, a current backer.
 The acquired funds will be employed to broaden Local Kitchens' delivery-centric food halls to Southern California. Each establishment comprises approximately eight local or regional restaurant chains, which provide diverse cuisines prepared in one kitchen for delivery, collection, or dining on-site.
</div>

Local Kitchens

About EDGE

Contact Us

Resources

Area of Focus

Technology Research Made Effortless