- General
- August 8, 2018
- 4 minutes read
Softbank reportedly in discussions of investing up to $750 million in robotics Pizza startup Zume
Zume As per new reports, Behemoth tech investor Softbank is again prepping for another investment, This time in a startup…
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| Zume |
As per new reports, Behemoth tech investor Softbank is again prepping for another investment, This time in a startup notable for offering robot made and automated delivery Pizza to consumers with the Japanese based giant reportedly in talks of putting up to $750 million for investment into the Mountain View based startup.
An investment in Zume which also licenses its technology to other vendors will result to one of the biggest funding rounds ever in the robotics and consumer startup space and well noted for the company which kicked off late 2015.
As per Bloomberg, Softbank is planning a funding round weighed between $500 million to $750 million citing people familiar with the conversations.
In addition to delivering and cooking Pizza for its customers, Zume holds a patent for delivery trucks which are capable of cooking food during the trip to its customers with the startup’s trucks loaded partly by robots in addition to creating technologies aimed at managing perishable food supply chain logistics for firms.
Zume is seeking to partner with companies who would make use of its technology for various services in the consumer delivery space. Its trucks possess which light up on demand via remote cloud signals enabling Zume to operate legally amid regulations preventing food truck firms from preparing meals while its delivery vehicles are in motion.
Zume is known to have raised $48 million October last year in a Series B round led by Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang’s AME Cloud Ventures with participation from SignalFire, FJ Labs, SGH Capital, Kortschak Investments and entrepreneur/ individual investor Vijay Chattha.
Softbank would mark a strong position in the food delivery market with this investment having led a $535 million round for food delivery unicorn DoorDash March this year and also owning a significant stake in Uber whose food delivery unit UberEats now makes up for 10% of its total business as stated by its CEO Dara Khosrowshahi.
Uber and DoorDash would make as good food couriers for Zume to partner with for its automated delivery network marking Softbank’s unique method of investing in companies which offer good collaboration and value to each other through its near $100 Billion Vision Fund.
