After shutting down in 2023, one of restaurant technology’s earliest robotics companies is rebooting under new ownership.
Late last month, Miso Robotics acquired the technology and intellectual property of former pizza automation startup Zume. The acquisition includes Zume’s hardware, software and more than 300 patents spanning food robotics and packaging.
Miso reported the technology enables new features to its automated fry cook, Flippy, and expansion into pizza robotics. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Founded in 2015, Zume was among the first wave of restaurant robotics startups. The company initially aimed to automate pizza end-to-end production, including technology designed to bake pizzas inside delivery vans en route to customers.
Zume later shifted to licensing its robotics technology before turning its attention to sustainable packaging in 2020. The company built manufacturing systems designed to reduce single-use plastics and replace traditional packaging materials.
In a June 24 LinkedIn post announcing the acquisition, Miso Robotics CEO Rich Hull stated:
“Today, we announced the acquisition of the technology and patents of Zume Pizza, one of the most high-profile food robotics companies of the past decade. Zume raised $450 million and created extraordinary food robotics innovations. The addition of Zume’s intellectual property will allow Miso to accelerate new features for our signature Flippy Fry Station robot, unlock our ability to expand more rapidly into adjacent products, and strengthen our market-leading position through stepped-up patent licensing and enforcement.”
The Zume deal follows Miso’s acquisition of restaurant operations platform Zignyl in February. Miso incorporated the platform into Zippy, its AI-powered mobile dashboard for restaurant operators.
Restaurant robotics continues to evolve, with companies including Miso, Hyphen, Chef Robotics, Agápe Automation and Lab37, to name a few, continuing to develop kitchen automation technology.
