Piestro and 800 Degrees Form 800° GO Joint Venture, Launch Crowdfunding Campaign
Piestro and 800 Degrees Form 800° GO Joint Venture, Launch Crowdfunding Campaign
3,600 pizza vending machines to be deployed over the next five years.
Piestro, which makes a robot pizza vending machine and 800 Degrees Pizza restaurant chain revealed today that the two companies have formed a joint venture dubbed 800° GO.
Back in August, the two companies announced a partnership to deploy 3,600 800 Degrees-branded Piestro machines over the next five years. Today the two companies revealed that they are equal partners in 800° GO, and launched an equity crowdfunding campaign that is looking to raise $10 million.
According to press materials sent to OttOmate, the joint venture will go to market in two phases:
It will scale via small-footprint 800° GO kitchens, which will include both highly efficient brick & mortar restaurants and delivery-only ghost kitchens.
Then it will deploy co-branded fully automated, robotic pizzeria vending machines, “800° GO by Piestro” pods, which will use the same exact recipes, ingredients and cooking technology used in 800° GO kitchens.
We’ve seen co-branding deals between robot vending machines and food brands before (Blendid/Jamba), but this joint venture takes things to a new level. Press materials did not include any information about the structure of the new company or how it would interact with either Piestro or 800 Degrees.
Pizza is a 132 billion market globally and there are plenty of companies looking to automate the pizza making process. By partnering with Piestro, 800 Degrees can expand its brand using small footprint machines that can be installed pretty much anywhere and operate around the clock.
Setting up a joint venture with Piestro also gives 800 Degrees a partner that has experience with equity crowdfunding. Piestro just closed a $5 million equity crowdfund raise last month. Joining forces with a known brand like 800 Degrees should bolster this campaign even further.
Speaking of pizza and equity crowdfunding, Kevin Morris, CFO of Wavemaker Labs, the incubator behind Piestro, will be speaking at OttOmate’s Pizza Automation Event next Friday. Get your tickets today! (Paid OttOmate subscribers get in free, so consider subscribing!)