Miso Robotics Expands Series C into 2021 to Match Investor Demand
After raising a record-breaking $17 million through crowdfunding, the creators of Flippy extend round as pandemic boosts demand for kitchen robots
PASADENA, Calif., Jan. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Miso Robotics – the startup transforming the food service industry with intelligent automation – announced the extension of its Series C round following high demand on the SeedInvest crowdfunding platform. Launched in April 2020, the crowdfunding campaign reached $17 million by the close in Nov. 2020 – becoming the highest-grossing technology deal ever featured on the platform. The raise also marked the highest investment ever achieved in a single day on SeedInvest. Following a record-breaking year, Miso Robotics will now expand its Series C round into 2021, with an end goal of reaching $30 million in funding.
The creators of Flippy, the world's first autonomous kitchen assistant capable of grilling and frying, were well positioned to address a 'new normal' that threatened the restaurant industry. Capable of optimizing kitchen space via an overhead sliding rail, Flippy serves as a multi-station chef with a zero footprint that minimizes exposure to human contaminants throughout the low-touch cooking process. Backed by advanced sensors, thermal cameras and continuous learning, Flippy's cooking skills bring meal quality to the highest standards, while backend point-of-service and delivery app integration allows for a cadence of order completion synced and optimized for a final hot, fresh and delicious taste for the customer upon arrival.
As a result, despite economic uncertainty caused by the pandemic, Miso Robotics thrived in 2020 as the need to address challenges in the food service industry grew with the spread of lockdowns, social distancing and shifting revenue models. Restaurants were hit with the need to move towards delivery and takeout to stay afloat, a dynamic that resulted in up to a 30% cut in profits because of costs imposed by delivery services. Limited kitchen staff due to social distancing restrictions decreased production capabilities and speed to fulfill orders – making competitive customer service nearly impossible. Already on a path towards maximizing efficiency in the kitchen, Miso Robotics was inundated with requests from major quick service restaurants seeking a solution to streamline cooking, enhance quality and consistency, and improve shrinking margins.
With a unique ability to respond to the needs of the industry, Miso Robotics secured White Castle as a marquee customer – the world's first fast food chain. Maintaining quality customer service, meeting the demand during unexpected peaks as a 24-hour restaurant and shifting staff to focus on necessary front-of- house tasks (such as delivery driver and takeout coordination, order fulfillment and frequent cleaning schedules) proved to be early wins for the partnership – which resulted in the initial pilot expanding from experimentation to planned Flippy deployment at up to 11 White Castle locations.
The success of the company's initial crowdfunding raise, and widespread public and operator interest in Flippy attracted industry-leading talent to join Miso Robotics' executive team, including chief executive officer Mike Bell – who previously served as chief operating officer at Ordermark and president & chief operating officer at Bridg – and newly appointed chief strategy officer Jake Brewer, who was the former vice president of Restaurant Excellence at CKE Restaurants, the parent company of Carl's Jr. and Hardee's restaurants, and held leading roles at Kroger, Yum! Brands and KFC.
"2020 was a big year for us, it's almost unbelievable the volume of interest we attracted from operators and new investors," said Buck Jordan, co-founder, president & chairman of Miso Robotics. "We have an incredible team assembled and we are ready to keep the momentum going in 2021 with the expansion of our Series C. The future is bright for us and our only real challenge right now is building fast enough. The whole industry is at our door – and with an expanded round, we'll move even faster to meet demand."
As 2020 came to an end, almost 110,000 restaurants had permanently closed, leaving remaining operators hungry for an affordable solution that can help them stay open, lift profits and stimulate recovery. As a pioneer for the post-pandemic commercial kitchen of the future, Miso Robotics will meet the needs of the industry by expanding cooking automation capabilities and enhancing Flippy's design and software in 2021. The year ahead promises to deliver a strengthened revenue model that will make Flippy a universally accessible, intelligent, robot-as-a-service solution for operators.
Miso Robotics Series C is now open. To invest in Miso Robotics, visit: https://invest.misorobotics.com/
About Miso Robotics
Miso Robotics (www.misorobotics.com) is revolutionizing the restaurant and prepared food industries with innovative robotics and artificial intelligence solutions. Miso was founded with a mission to leverage AI technology to help chefs cook food perfectly and consistently and enable restaurants to increase labor productivity, reduce costs and drive profitability while improving the overall dining experience. Miso employs a respected team of scientists, roboticists, engineers and industrial designers from Caltech, Cornell, MIT, Carnegie Mellon, Harvey Mudd, UCLA, USC, Art Center and UNC Chapel Hill. Miso Robotics is now taking reservations for their equity crowd-funding raise, to invest in the future of restaurant automation go to https://invest.misorobotics.com/
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SOURCE Miso Robotics
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