Third-party delivery platform intends to expand technology as part of deal closed ‘late last year’
DoorDash Inc., the third-party delivery company, has acquired Chowbotics, the fresh food robotics firm, the companies announced Monday.
San Francisco-based DoorDash, which went public Dec. 9, closed the Chowbotics deal “late last year,” a company spokesperson said. Terms of the acquisition were not released.
San Jose, Calif.-based Chowbotics was founded in 2014 and created Sally the Salad Robot, which it now calls the Fresh Food Robot.
“With the Chowbotics team on board, we can explore new use cases and customers, providing another service to help our merchants grow,” said Stanley Tang, DoorDash co-founder and chief product officer, in a statement.
“Bringing Chowbotics’ technology into the DoorDash platform gives us a new opportunity to help merchants expand their current menu offerings and reach new customers in new markets — which is a fundamental part of our merchant-first approach to empowering local economies,” Tang said.
Rick Wilmer, CEO of Chowbotics, said that joining DoorDash will allow the company to deploy its robotic technology more broadly.
The deal “unlocks new possibilities for Chowbotics and the technology that this team has built over the past seven years,” said Wilmer, who was named to Nation’s Restaurant News’ annual Power List in 2020.
Penn Daniel, DoorDash’s general manager, said in a Medium post that “Chowbotics makes healthy, custom meals accessible 24/7 with its flagship robot. This innovative and leading technology creates customizable salads, grain and poke bowls, parfaits, cereals and snacks all within a three-foot-by-three-foot space.”
Daniel added that Chowbotics had successfully built and commercialized a product to provide made-to-order fresh meals at the touch of a button.
“Chowbotics has deployed its product to hundreds of locations, including universities, hospitals, and grocery stores,” Daniel said. “This has allowed students, front-line workers and everyday shoppers access to healthy and hygienic meals with fresh ingredients.”
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