A Fresh $140M Foodtech Fund Emerges

Wing + DoorDash, last call for Curbivore

This is a big week for delivery tech and restaurant innovation, with so many industry innovators gathered at Curbivore. But before we get to that, we’ve got some interesting fundraising news, a new airborne way to get your Wendy’s, and some insights from Chipotle’s CEO.

Foodtech Funding Falters

New data from Pitchbook enumerates just what a rough year 2023 was for the foodtech sector. Q4 saw investments down nearly 40% compared to the prior quarter, while deal count fell a relatively modest 9.7%. Particularly vexing to the industry is a lack of meaningful exits, those numbered just 14 for the fourth quarter. Although, as the IPO window is starting to open back up for tech cos, perhaps 2024 will prove more promising. Crunchbase also has some illuminating data on the best-funded food automation startups.

Acre Ventures Raises $140M

Here’s one sign that 2024 should be more fruitful for food tech: prominent VC firm Acre Venture Partners just closed its Fund III, bringing in a whopping $140 million. The Southern California-based fund will invest between pre-seed and series B, as well as in follow on investments. The fund has already deployed capital to startups that include Arado, Farm-ng, Bonsai Robotics, People Science and Switch Bioworks. The group also announced that IDEO Partner Lynda Deakin and acclaimed chef David Chang have joined as operating partners.

Wing Launches Aerial Deliveries for DoorDash

DoorDash and Wing just announced the launch of a drone delivery pilot, bringing their partnership to Christiansburg, Virginia. The pilot will initially serve food from a single Wendy’s, where DD customers will have the option to select drone delivery on the checkout screen. DoorDash is the first marketplace partner that Wing has directly integrated with, as opposed to requiring consumers to use its first party app. While Wing touts that its fastest delivery took just 3 minutes, it’s only promising a 30 minutes or better guarantee for this service, which isn’t super compelling given that the entire town of Christiansburg is less than 15 square miles…

DoorDash and Wing have been working together in Australia since late 2022, where the two cos. now service 60+ merchants in three Queensland locations. Alphabet-owned Wing has been operating in Christiansburg since 2019, delivering items like coffee and Girl Scout Cookies. Over in Texas, it also works with Walmart. DoorDash and Wendy’s are no slouches either: DD has an innovative robotics lab, while the burger chain has experimented with novel delivery solutions like Pipedream Labs.

Catch a clip of Pipedream’s VP Justin Robinson explain how their underground delivery solution works at Curbivore 2023. Better yet, join us this week to hear from Lars Erik Fagernæs, CEO of European drone delivery leader Aviant / Kyte.

Last Chance for Curbivore!

We’re just a few days away from Curbivore 2024 — convening Thursday and Friday in Downtown LA. Join the brightest minds from the worlds of delivery, mobility, foodtech, automation and policy; get hands on with the latest tech; and eat the country’s best street food. Thursday is almost sold out, but Friday tickets are still available. (And don’t forget, OttOmate Pro subscribers can attend for free.)

And if you haven’t yet, do look through the full agenda…

In Other News

Starship debuts wireless charging in the U.K. (be sure to check out their robots live at Curbivore!) Wonder raises $700M but with some big strings attached. Nvidia releases more robot-friendly hardware. Chipotle CEO Brian Niccol talks robotics, innovation, iterating and stock price.