Robots team for autonomous pizza making and delivery
US startup Peistro has teamed up with delivery vehicle developer Kiwibot on a fully automated, contactless pizza making and delivery process.
The partnership follows a successful campaign raise on crowdfunding platform StartEngine that was oversubscribed in record time as interest surged in a solution that would allow pizzeria operators to expand their takeout reach at a fraction of the cost and provide an entry point for new operators.
Launched in July, Piestro automates the pizza cooking process to three minutes by using a standalone pizzeria robot to make the pies available in public spaces closer to where consumers live such as apartment complex lobbies.
As a result, says Peistro, it will open a second funding campaign on StartEngine. With the onset of the pandemic and an increasing concern for greater health and safety measures across restaurants and an accelerated need to shift to a takeout and delivery model for operators, consumers are spending more and more time at home, turning to quick access food options with minimal human contact.
The idea is that customers can watch their pizza being made via a camera link. Partnering with Kiwibot to deliver an improved contactless experience means the final Piestro automated pizzeria will come integrated with a dispensing mechanism for Kiwibot, allowing for contactless delivery, further limiting the potential for customer exposure to Covid-19.
Through an in-app order and purchase, customers can select their preferred pizza design. The order is registered with Kiwibot and a bot is deployed to a Piestro location, where the pizza has been made through automation and timed to dispense upon arrive for maximum freshness and quality. Kiwibot picks up the pizza and delivers directly to the consumer, creating a fully contactless experience from the time a pizza is made to the moment it is in hand.
“This is such an exciting partnership for us,” says Massimo De Marco, CEO of Piestro. “The demand we saw was so high to bring Piestro to market and we knew it was the right time to really double down on our product roadmap to meet the needs of operators and customer alike. Integrating Kiwibot into our system and making fresh, deliciously crafted pizzas accessible in an easy, fast and contactless format positions us to bring our Piestro automated pizzeria to market stronger than ever.”
David Rodriguez, Head of Business at Kiwibot adds, “Kiwibot is all about affordable delivery and contactless execution. Partnering with Piestro is great synergy for consumers who want to have access to their local pizza favorites with speedy delivery and seamless ease. Our relationship with Piestro is just one more way operators can offset the big margin cuts normal delivery services take, that make it so difficult to stay in business.”
Piestro is already backed by experts in the food automation space. Its lead investor, Wavemaker Partners, is a global venture capital fund with $400M AUM and its studio, Wavemaker Labs, focuses directly on automation.
Now, says the company, more investors can be part of the future of automation.
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