Jamba Juices its Blendid Deal, Adds Second Robot Smoothie Kiosk
Jamba Juices its Blendid Deal, Adds Second Robot Smoothie Kiosk
Blendid has also kicked off a second equity crowdfunding campaign.
Jamba and Blendid announced today that they have re-teamed to launch a second co-branded robot smoothie kiosk. The new autonomous smoothie station is location at the Stonewood Center in Downey, California.
This launch follows the first Jamba by Blendid smoothie robot that launched in a Walmart in Dixon, California at the end of last year. The new Stonewood robot will be Blendid’s first installation at a shopping mall, and the first time the kiosk will be out in the open, so you consumers can walk all the way around it.
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Blendid didn’t provide any specifics about sales or consumer usage at the first Jamba ‘bot, but obviously the pairing was successful enough to launch this second location. I’m a big believer in co-branding as a path to market for food robot startups. Autonomous food and beverage retail is still very much a new concept, so consumers just aren’t used to the idea of robots making their food and drinks… yet. By pairing with a known brand, companies like Blendid and Piestro (which recently signed a co-branding deal with 800 Degrees Pizza) can help flatten any learning curve for new customers. People don’t know Blendid, but they know what they get with Jamba.
From the press announcement, it seems like Jamba and Blendid are just getting warmed up. The two companies said that the next step is to open Jamba by Blendids in new venues like gyms, hospitals, college campuses and inside big box retailers.
In addition to a new robo-location, Blendid has also kicked off a second equity crowdfunding campaign. Last month Blendid announced it had raised $2 million in an oversubscribed equity crowdfuding campaing. In a video chat last week, Covahne Michaels, Blendid VP of Marketing said this latest campaign was created mainly to give investors who missed out on the last campaign a chance to invest. As such, this latest crowdfunding campaign will be short and will look to raise $1.5 million.
Michaels actually opened up about the good and the bad of equity crowdfunding recently on the OttOmate podcast. It was available to paid subscribers last week, and has been opened to everyone this week.
