- Restaurant-delivery app DoorDash has bought food-robotics company Chowbotics.
- Chowbotics makes Sally, a robot that prepares custom salads in under a minute.
- More than 350 of the robots are already in use worldwide, but this could grow following the deal.
- Visit the Business section of Insider for more stories.
DoorDash has bought Chowbotics, the developers of a robot that can make custom fresh salads in under a minute.
DoorDash merchants will now be able to expand their menus and reach new markets without investing in new stores, the food-delivery app said in a statement Monday, suggesting merchants can use the robots to fulfill orders delivered through DoorDash.
The release didn't say how much DoorDash, the top restaurant delivery service in the US, paid for Chowbotics, but The Wall Street Journal said Chowbotics was valued at $46 million in 2018. The Journal first reported the deal.
Read more: 6 startups that Uber could acquire as it battles DoorDash to rule delivery, an expert says
Chowbotics' flagship product is Sally, a three-foot-by-three-foot machine that lets customers create their own salads, grain and poke bowls, parfaits, cereals, and snacks by dispensing fresh ingredients at the touch of a button.
It may sound simple at first, but the task is incredibly complex because of the different weights and shapes of the ingredients, DoorDash said.
"The level of autonomy, accessibility, and customization that Chowbotics provides to consumers is proven and unmatched," it added.
The robot stores its ingredients in 22 canisters, which have to be topped up manually. Sally can make between 50 and 100 meals, taking less than a minute each, before a refill is required.
Sally has become all the more relevant during the pandemic as people increasingly focus on hygiene, Chowbotics said. Staff don't handle the ingredients apart from stocking up the machine, and to get their salad all customers have to touch are buttons on a tablet screen. In October, Chowbotics rolled out a contactless option, too, which let users order in advance via an app.
The robot also uses temperature controls to keep ingredients fresher for longer, which leads to less waste, Chowbotics said, and merchants get an automated dashboard with data on temperatures, sales, and ingredient usage.
The robots are already in more than 350 locations worldwide, and can serve food "at all places and times" without requiring extra staffing, Chowbotics said.
Inventor Deepak Sekar set Chowbotics up in 2014, first developing a machine that combined spices and vegetables to make curry before creating a salad-making version. The company has raised around $21 million so far, TechCrunch reported.
DoorDash went public in December and raised around $3.4 billion with its IPO, at a valuation of roughly $34.2 billion, amid surging demand during the pandemic.
DoorDash has been quietly expanding its partnerships with Walmart, CVS, Walgreens, 7-Eleven, and Macy's, Insider's Nancy Luna reported. It is now delivering cough medicine, pet supplies, and shampoo.
February 09, 2021 at 08:26PM
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