Byte Kitchen, a California-based ghost kitchen operator, closed a $6 million funding round the company says will allow it to grow its headcount and open a second Noshery digital food hall in its home state.
The round was led by Crosslink Capital, Emergent Ventures and Kevin Mahaffey, with participation from Correlation Ventures, Wndrco, Soma Capital and Y Combinator. Multiple angel investors also participated, including Shawn Tsao (co-founder of Caviar), Bruce Dean (founder of Black Bear Diner), and Edna Morris (former president of Red Lobster).
Byte Kitchen opened its first digital food hall in San Mateo, California, last December. The company said the “resounding success” of that location has led to the quick expansion and move toward a second location.
“Independent restaurants are the heart of local communities, and we started Byte Kitchen to amplify their reach across the nation,” said Byte Kitchen CEO Divyang Arora. “However, in a market saturated with ghost kitchens and virtual brands, we believe product quality is what will win in the long run. At Byte Kitchen, we’re committed to upholding the trust of our restaurant partners, from faithfully executing their recipes to [maintain] strong relationships with customers.”
Byte Kitchen prepares menu items from eight different restaurant partners currently in its Noshery food halls. Partners include local favorites from the Bay Area all the way to Nashville: Oren’s Hummus, The Little Chihuahua, the Melt, East Side Banh Mi, Kasa Indian Eatery, Curry House by Asian Box, The Pastry Cupboard, and Humphry Slocombe Ice Cream.
“We’ve loved partnering with Byte Kitchen in bringing The Melt to new customers. With their commitment to brand quality and recipe adherence, we trust the team to ensure best-in-class experiences that align with our company’s goal to ‘Deliver an I love it here experience to every customer,’” said Sean Reiter, director of brand revenue at The Melt. “The Byte Kitchen model removes the capital risk and many of the challenges that come with opening new restaurants—enabling us to scale rapidly and efficiently.”
With its latest round of funding, Byte Kitchen will continue to expand in California and beyond.
Byte Kitchen was founded by Divyang Arora, Rahul Madadi and Quinn McKenna. Divyang and Rahul bring years of experience in finance and technology, while Quinn is a restaurant industry veteran, having led operations for The Lark Creek Restaurant Group and China Live.
