Purestone Capital is an investment firm. The company was founded in 2006 by Daniel Chiang and Victor Su and has offices. They focus on medium and long-term investments and provide value-added support to portfolio companies, such as the provision of related industries, contacts, and professional resources, to help them grow and develop successfully, and to play a key advisory role in the company's strategic development.

Purestone Capital

The Middleby Corporation is a provider of the foodservice and food processing equipment industry. The company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of commercial foodservice and food processing equipment. The company’s Commercial Foodservice Equipment Group manufactures cooking equipment for restaurants and institutional kitchens. Its Food Processing Equipment group manufactures food preparation, cooking, packaging, and food safety equipment for the food processing industry. Middleby has received numerous prestigious awards and recognitions including ''Forbes Best Small Company'', ''Business Week Hot Growth Company'', ''Fortune Fastest Growing Company'', ''Crain’s Chicago Business, Fast Fifty''. The Middleby Corporation was founded in 1888 and is based in Elgin, Illinois

The Middleby Corp

Sony Innovation Fund is the corporate venture capital arm of Sony that invests and engages in early-stage companies. Beyond investment, our mission is to provide resources such as access to the broader Sony world and its global network, as well as collaborate with startups to:  • Foster business creation in related lines of business and new areas of interest to Sony  • Catalyze a talented and passionate team  Sony innovation Fund was founded in 2016.

Sony Innovation Fund

UpHonest Capital is an early-stage, industry-agnostic venture capital firm that partners with companies from pre-seed stage to Series A. The firm invests in entrepreneurs and early-stage startups and then uses its resources to boost value creation through disruptive means.

UpHonest Capital

Happiness Capital is a venture capital firm that invests in startups that aim to improve the world’s happiness. The firm helps entrepreneurs to co-create a happier world as a global community. Its investment portfolio covers seed to growth-stage companies in the US, Europe, Israel, China, and Hong Kong, with the focus on the future of food, health, education, and work. Happiness Capital was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Hong Kong.

Happiness Capital

Taiwan Global Angels (TGA) is a global network of seasoned angel investors primarily based in the US and Taiwan. We are entrepreneurs backing entrepreneurs. TGA invests in early stage startups with scalable technologies that may leverage Taiwan’s unique strengths in manufacturing, healthcare, channels, and talents for growth. Our members are domain experts in healthcare, hardware, manufacturing, finance, and investments, and many of our members also belong to other angel groups.

Taiwan Global Angels

Rich Products develops food products. Their product portfolio consists of toppings, cakes, desserts, pizza, nut-free cookies, bread, rolls, shrimp, seafood, appetizers, meatballs, pasta, syrups, soaked cakes, and cooking creams.

Rich Products

Founded in 2020, Citta Capital is a venture capital based in Palo Alto, California. The firm prefers to invest in early stage and early growth stage companies.  The firm seeks to invest in artificial intelligence/machine learning, big data, cloud, healthcare technology, IoT, marketplaces, SaaS and enterprise, security, blockchain, and robotics.

Citta Capital

Jollibee is the largest fast food chain in the Philippines, operating a nationwide network of over 750 stores. A dominant market leader in the Philippines, Jollibee enjoys the lion’s share of the local market that is more than all the other multinational brands combined. The company has also embarked on an aggressive international expansion plan in the USA, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Brunei, firmly establishing itself as a growing international QSR player.  A company that values family Jollibee was founded by Tony Tan and his family with its humble beginnings as an Ice Cream Parlor which later grew into an emerging global brand. At the heart of its success is a family-oriented approach to personnel management, making Jollibee one of the most admired employers in the region with an Employer of the Year Award from the Personnel Management Association of the Philippines, Best Employer in the Philippines Award from Hewitt Associated and a Top 20 Employer in Asia citation from the Asian Wall Street Journal.  Aside from promoting a family oriented work environment, the brand’s values also reflect on their advertising and marketing. Jollibee knows their target audience very well: the traditional family and all communication materials focus on the importance of family values, making Jollibee the number one family fast food chain in the Philippines and a growing international QSR player.  A Well-Loved Brand Customer satisfaction has always been key to Jollibee’s success. Never losing sight of its goals, Jollibee has grown to be one of the most recognized and highly preferred brands in the Philippines. Now the market leader among fast food chains in the Philippines, claiming a market share that totals to more than half of the entire industry.  Great tasting products and quality systems Jollibee’s growth is due to its delicious menu line-up – like its superior-tasting Chickenjoy, mouth-watering Yumburger and Champ hamburger, and deliciously satisfying Jollibee Spaghetti -ably complemented with creative marketing programs, and efficient manufacturing and logistics facilities. It is made possible by well-trained teams that work in a culture of integrity and humility, fun and family-like. Every Jollibee outlet welcomes customers with a clean and warm in-store environment and friendly and efficient service.  And it is this tried and tested formula of delivering great-tasting food, adherence to world class operating standards and the universal appeal of the family values the brand represents that are driving the expansion of Jollibee both locally and in the overseas market.  Widest store network in the Philippines and an emerging global player Jollibee is the largest fast food chain in the Philippines, operating a nationwide network of more than 750 stores. A dominant market leader in the Philippines, Jollibee enjoys the lion’s share of the local market that is more than all the other multinational brands combined. The company has also embarked on an aggressive international expansion plan, and currently has 80 stores outside the Philippines-USA (26), Vietnam (32), Brunei (11), Jeddah (7), Qatar, Hong Kong, and Kuwait (1 each), firmly establishing itself as a growing international QSR player.

Jollibee Food

Botrista Technology

Botrista is a robotics company based in Silicon Valley. They provide an end to end beverage solution to F&B retail chains. They have the capability to automate drink menus and pour an array of drinks including delicious and high profitable non-alcoholic mixed beverages. The Robot Barista increases drink selection, quality, and consistency while reducing labor. It can also be modified to mix premium cocktails. The Botrista Team combines decades of robotics expertise and beverage industry experience to develop end-to-end automation solutions to help beverage retailers address the shifting demands from today’s health-conscious consumer. It leverages manufacturing techniques and integrates software to revolutionize the way fresh beverages are prepared and produced.

<div>Botrista Technology offers an automated drink dispensing robot called “DrinkBot,” which can mix preset beverages in just over 20 seconds as per the company. The robots occupy a floor space of 5 5 sq ft and can pour a customizable array of drinks, including both alcoholic and non-alcoholic mixed beverages (mocktails, juices, fusion teas, etc.). The hardware is connected to its library of drink recipes in Botrista’s cloud, and restaurants can choose between 6–20 drinks to be served at a given time. Users can place orders via its touchscreen, upon which the robot starts preparing the drink.</div>

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

Restaurant Industry Robotics

<div>
 
 Botrista Technology offers an automated drink dispensing robot called “DrinkBot,” which can mix preset beverages in just over 20 seconds as per the company. The robots occupy a floor space of 5 5 sq ft and can pour a customizable array of drinks, including both alcoholic and non-alcoholic mixed beverages (mocktails, juices, fusion teas, etc.). The hardware is connected to its library of drink recipes in Botrista’s cloud, and restaurants can choose between 6–20 drinks to be served at a given time. Users can place orders via its touchscreen, upon which the robot starts preparing the drink.
 
 
 The robot is pitched as a method of offering drinks quickly with no upfront investment. The DrinkBot is offered free of charge; however, restaurants are required to buy the ingredients through Botrista at USD 1.40–USD 1.90 per drink. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, restaurants have been opting for the robot for its labor-saving function as well. The company had 20 customers across Northern California as of May 2020, with key customers including Goldilocks, Umai Hospitality Group, Crawdaddy Restaurant, and Old Port Lobster Shack. 
  As of June 2021, the company reported growing its revenue and deployments by 10x YoY.  In October 2021, the company partnered with the Middle Eastern fast-casual chain “The Halal Guys” to install DrinkBots in 91 of its restaurants. As of October 2022, the company has deployed its bots across 26 states.
 
 
 In October 2022, the company raised an undisclosed amount in a Series B funding round, bringing the company’s total funding to USD 55 million. 
 
</div>

<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.
 
</div>

Dexai Robotics

<div>
 
 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&rsquo;s latest product line includes second-generation burger-flipping robot &ldquo;Flippy 2,&rdquo; high-volume chicken-wing-frying robot &ldquo;Flippy Wings,&rdquo; frying and seasoning robot &ldquo;Flippy Lite,&rdquo; beverage-dispensing robot &ldquo;Sippy,&rdquo; and its cooking platform &ldquo;CookRight.&rdquo;
 
 
 - 
 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&mdash;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%&ndash;20%. Both the models are equipped with its &ldquo;AutoBin&rdquo; system&mdash;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 &ldquo;CookRight Coffee,&rdquo; a coffee monitoring system powered by the platform in 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/9725">
 April 2022.
 </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&mdash;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 partnerships
 
 
 Miso Robotics&rsquo; 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 &ldquo;Chippy&rdquo; 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,
 </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.
 
 
 Funding and Financials
 
 
 Miso 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;
 
</div>

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.

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).

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

PROMINENT_CATEGORY

<div>
 Botrista Technology, creator of the robotic beverage dispenser “DrinkBot,” has teamed with fast-casual poke restaurant chain Pokeworks, launching a new range of signature beverages.
 These include smoothies, lemonades, and milk teas, all made using Botrista's automated solutions.
</div>

Botrista Technology

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