“NUGGS has evolved into the fastest-growing chicken nugget on the planet” Can chicken nuggets be disrupted? We caught up with SIMULATE founder and CEO Ben Pasternak to learn more about how he is bringing software development principles of feedback loops and agile manufacturing to plant-based nutrition choices that are a viable alternative to animal-based meats. The company just closed its Series A round from investors that include Lerer Hippeau, Walter Robb, Alex Ohanian, AgFunder, McCain Foods, Rainfall Ventures, Jasmine Tookes, Neil Parikh, and Bob Pittman.
FoodTech
Bbot Raises $3M to Enable Restaurants to Offer Contactless Ordering and Payment Options Seamlessly
The restaurant industry is scrambling to find ways to encourage diners to return amid the pandemic. Bbot is a contactless restaurant ordering and payments platform that enables restaurants to allow their diners to use their own smartphones to select the items they would like, place the order, and pay all through their smartphone, without ever having to download or sign up for an app. The company is experiencing a wave of adoption with both delivery and in-person dining over the last several months. CEO and Cofounder Steven Simoni shares some more insight into how the company pivoted from a restaurant robot idea to its current offering, how the pandemic has amplified the need for the solution, and the company’s seed funding round from investors that include Craft Ventures and Acceleprise.
Butler Hospitality Raises $15M to Bring Cloud Kitchens to Hotels to Elevate In-House Dining
Rooms service, even at the finest of hotels, can be hit or miss. Usually expensive, untimely, and a hodgepodge of items, in-house hotel dining is often best avoided. Butler Hospitality addresses this through its cloud kitchen for hotels, where the company takes over hotel kitchens and provides turn-key food and beverage services that make room service profitable again. Founder and industry veteran Tim Gjonbalic shares more about how Butler elevates the in-house dining experience at hotels, how the company weathered the downturn in the hospitality industry due to COVID-19, and the company’s $15M Series A round from investors that include &vest, Scopus Ventures, Mousse Partners, Kraft Group, and Loeb.nyc.
Slice Raises Another $43M to Help Local Pizzerias Drive Business Online
Managing his family’s pizzerias in Staten Island, Slice CEO and Founder Ilir Sela saw the threat that online food apps and mobile ordering could be for independent pizzerias back in the 2000s. He launched Slice to serve as an all-in-one platform to help local pizzerias compete with the larger pizza brands and food apps by leveraging technology. Fast forward – there are now over 12,000 pizzerias on the platform and Sela just closed a $43M funding led by KKR. Sela discusses the impressive growth of the platform, the absolute best pizza in NYC (he should know), and much more…
Spot & Tango Raises $4.2M for its Line of Fresh Dry Food for Dogs
While many pet and wellness brands produce food that rivals the freshness and nutrition of human food, Spot & Tango creates human-grade meals for pets. Spot & Tango’s selection of food is transparently engineered with sustainable ingredients that have no additives, fillers, or preservatives that are commonly found in commercial kibble. The company’s newest product, […]
Augean Robotics: Mechanizing Food Production From Farm To Table
It spanned over 120 feet and took up a considerable area inside the already overpacked robotics section of the Las Vegas Convention Center, leaving many to wonder, ‘What on earth is a tractor doing at CES?’ Ever the since the acquisition of the artificial intelligence startup Blue River Technologies for $305 million, John Deere has been betting its […]
Where We Are Investing Now: Next-Gen Food, Ingredients, and Beverages
Health and happiness science is one of the most profound investment opportunities in decades. We feel it is natural and appropriate to make the most of the transformation of these core human experiences in all our current and upcoming funds.
KAIGO Raises $3M for its Medically Driven End-to-End Nutrition Solution
Healthy meals for the hottest restaurants in NYC delivered straight to your door?
Where We Are Investing Now: Next Gen Food and Drink
In a recent post, I talked about our focus on Digital Brands. Food, drink, and new ingredients certainly are part consumer goods and digital brands. But this area is unique enough to deserve its own explanation. That’s because food and drink are not only digital products, but also new expressions of the emerging science of health […]
TCG Buys Majority Stake in Food52 Valuing it at Over $100M
Food52, the content and commerce destination for those interested in cooking and food that has an active community of over 16M, has been acquired by TCG Capital Management, an affiliate of The Chernin Group, the media holding company founded by broadcast executive Peter Chernin in 2009. The exact terms of the transaction were not disclosed […]
Magic Spoon Raises $5.5M for its D2C Cereal for Adults
Remember waking up on Saturdays when you were a kid and having a big bowl of sugary cereal while watching cartoons? For most of us, adulthood and our waistlines do not offer us the liberty to eat like any longer. But Magic Spoon is the fun-loving cereal direct-to-consumer brand for adults that reinvents childhood classics with […]