OpenAI, Manna and Chef Robotics Haul in Billions
Walmart, Vayu Robotics, Avride and Robocars.com leaders join us at Curbivore
We’ve got plenty of robotics and automation news this week, but before we get to that, we’re giving one final plug for Curbivore, our celebrated annual conference that Restaurant Dive calls one of the must-attend events of the year. We’ve got some great additional industry experts joining us on April 10 & 11, including Venkat Srinivasan — Director of Product Management, Last Mile Delivery at Walmart; Ananda Gopalan, CEO & Co-Founder of Vayu Robotics; Sergei Krillov, Chief Commercial Officer of Avride; and Brad Templeton — Publisher of Robocars.com & Chairman Emeritus of the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
(And remember: Ottomate Pro subscribers can register for free.)
OpenAI Raises A Cool $40 Billion
AI heavyweight OpenAI just closed on a fresh $40 billion in funding, the largest private tech financing round in recorded history. The round, which values the company at $300 billion, was led by SoftBank, with participation from Microsoft, Coatue, Thrive and Altimeter. Some of that funding is contingent on OpenAI restructuring from a non-profit to a for-profit entity by December 31st; if that fails to happen the round size may be cut in half.
That controversy over the firm’s conversion to a for-profit may ring some bells, as it’s related to the erstwhile coup that briefly saw CEO Sam Altman ousted from the company due to his non-candor with the board, before being reinstated. A new book — The Optimist: Sam Altman, OpenAI, and the Race to Invent the Future — captures the drama of those events, including a prescient warning from right-wing investor Peter Thiel, who brought Altman to LA hotspot YESS to alert him, Cassandra-like, to his coming troubles.
We should note that YESS is right across the street from Curbivore 2025, in LA’s Arts District. Curbivore places you at the center of the action for robotics, automation, AI, mobility, delivery and even high-stakes corporate drama served alongside celebrated omakase. Register now!
Manna Raises $30 Million
Well this number sounds a bit less impressive after the previous item… but Irish delivery drone startup Manna has hauled in $30 million in new financing, led by Molten Ventures and Tapestry VC, with participation from Coca-Cola, Dynama Venture and more. Manna currently operates in the Dublin neighborhood of Blanchardstown, alongside trials in Texas and Espoo, Finland. The company recently scored a new partnership with 3PD Wolt.
Chef Robotics Raises $43.1 Million
It’s a big week for cash! Chef Robotics just closed on a $43.1 million financing round, bringing its total funding to $65.6 million. The equity portion was led by Avataar Venture Partners and included Construct Capital, Bloomberg Beta, Promus Ventures, MFV Partners, Interwoven, HCVC, Alumni Ventures, MaC Venture Capital, Red and Blue Ventures, Tau Partners, Siddhi Capital, and BOLD Capital Partners. The debt was from Silicon Valley Bank and will be used to finance robotic systems for Chef’s Robotics-as-a-Service solution. The company’s robots have now produced over 44 million servings.
In Other News
Tesla’s restaurant scores a chef: Eric Greenspan. Instacart introduces Store View and Second Store Check. Vori and Fujitsu partner on self-checkout products. Pudu Robotics introduces FlashBot Arm.
Please note — Ottomate will be off next week while the team convenes at Curbivore.