Zume — once the preeminent name in pizza technology that made headlines and millions in startup funding in 2017 — has shut down more than three years after pivoting away from robot technology to sustainable packaging development. The SoftBank-funded company is allegedly insolvent and chose to liquidate its assets rather than declare bankruptcy, according to tech news publication, The Information.
Zume was founded in 2015 with the goal of automating the pizza industry and attracted the attention of investors, most notably its lead investor SoftBank that poured approximately $375 million into the tech startup. According to Crunchbase, Zume raised $423 million in eight funding rounds — though the exact number remains disputed — and was considered a unicorn startup with a valuation of more than $1 billion by 2018.
