fintech

You may have seen some editorial coverage of this firm in the past, but we thought it was noteworthy that a Silicon Valley-based pizza restaurant just garnered $48M in cool VC cash. Now, is this fintech? Well, they no doubt use fintech in their payments and cash management applications, BUT, it is more of a robotics story.

Thing is, the robots are replacing human jobs - this time ala pizza-making, next time it could be at the salad bar or burger joint. According to their website, the robots names are "Pepe, Giorgio, Marta, Bruno and Vincenzo", and they perform "low skill, repetitive and DANGEROUS tasks" (the caps are mine) so their human co-workers can enjoy more "creative, high skill jobs".

Interestingly, on their website, their career opportunities are a bit atypical as well. While they are looking for the requisite delivery drivers and pizza prep cooks, they are also seeking senior software engineers, demonstrating once and for all that this is not your average pizza parlor. And they now have $48M more in cash to show for it.

Cindy Taylor/Publisher

Link here to recent SEC Filing

"A robotics startup called Zume Pizza, which is automating en route pizza production, has raised nearly $50 million in venture funding.

Why so much money for a company automating pizza production and delivery? Because if successful, it will change the way fast food operates by increasing speed and freshness while reducing a significant portion of labor costs.

That's especially important in the restaurant industry. Food costs are going down, which is good news for fast food companies, but labor costs have been rising steadily. The cost of labor as a percentage of sales rose .8 percent in 2016, according to the consulting firm BDO.

Since fast food relies on low-skill, repeatable tasks, it's the perfect use-case for automation. That's led to a rush of innovation in food service.

The

New York Times

recently profiled a salad-making robot named Sally, which is made by Chowbotics. The company says its robot eliminates the unsanitary elements of the ubiquitous salad bar..." Full Story at ZDNet