Miso Robotics has created a robotic kitchen assistant.
Its Artificial-Intelligence-enabled robot is capable of preparing food in commercial kitchens.
Despite its fun name (“Flippy"), this device is packed with powerful technology. It uses computer and thermal vision to cook food perfectly and consistently. For example, it can monitor the “doneness” of a dozen burgers on a grill at once.
By implementing Flippy robots into their kitchens, companies can reduce labor expenses by more than 65%, and increase the quantity of food they can prepare by 23%.
This company’s robot can also reduce human contact in the kitchen. As such, Miso Robotics has received increased interest in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Following a successful pilot test at a CaliBurger restaurant, the franchise signed an $11 million purchase order to implement two Flippy robots at each of its 50 locations.
Miso Robotics is raising capital to fulfill this order and continue development on its latest robot, “Flippy 2.0.”
Within the $273 billion global quick-service restaurant industry, companies must deal with increasingly tight margins. This is due to rising wages and a shortage of qualified workers.
Miso Robotics’ device wasn’t designed to replace employees. Rather, the robot allows employees to focus on value-added tasks, and automates the more mundane, less desirable jobs (for instance, working the fryer).
Flippy was designed to work at a grill or fryer station. It can recognize and monitor items, and can automatically switch cooking tools and clean equipment.
In addition to its granted patent, Miso Robotics has 12 patents pending for its robot. Each robot retails for $25,000, and customers pay $1,000 per month for support and machine software updates.
Miso Robotics has raised more than $14 million from venture capitalists including Wavemaker and MAG Ventures. It’s also raised funds from Levy Restaurants and CaliGroup.
Since it was first tested in 2018, Flippy has cooked more than 40,000 pounds of fried food and 9,000 burgers. This food was prepared across baseball stadiums for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks, and two CaliBurger locations.
In October 2019, the first CaliBurger 2.0 location opened in Fort Myers, Florida, with its reinvented kitchen that includes two Flippy robots working alongside one chef.
Flippy 2.0 will be 50% less expensive than the original Flippy, and will require zero real estate “footprint” in kitchens.