Aug 14 (Japan Times) - SoftBank Group Corp. is in talks to invest from $500 million to $750 million in Zume Inc., a startup that makes and delivers fresh pizzas with the help of robots, according to people familiar with the conversations.
Zume owns a patent for delivery trucks capable of cooking food while en route to customers. The startup’s proprietary trucks are loaded in part by robots, and have ovens that fire up on demand via a remote cloud signal. The technology allows Zume to operate legally despite some laws preventing food truck companies from preparing food while a delivery vehicle is in motion.
In addition to delivering pizza, Zume creates technology to manage perishable supply chain logistics and sees an opportunity to partner with companies that wish to provide freshly cooked menu items to customers.
The investment shows SoftBank’s Vision Fund’s broader ambitions to attach itself to the food delivery business, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private. Earlier this year SoftBank led a $535 million funding round into meal-delivery app DoorDash. SoftBank also owns a 15 percent stake in Uber, which says its last-mile meal delivery business, Uber Eats, is growing quickly. In February, Uber’s chief executive officer, Dara Khosrowshahi said food delivery already represented about 10 percent of Uber’s business.
Right now, Zume’s pizza delivery business is only operating three trucks from its headquarters in Mountain View, California, but the small startup has ambitions to partner with food couriers such as Uber Eats and DoorDash.
