DoorDash Acquires Salad Robotics Startup Chowbotics

DoorDash announced an acquisition on Monday. If we didn’t know better, we’d predict M&A geared toward delivery consolidation or cloud kitchen integration.

But no. This story is about salad robots. DoorDash acquired Chowbotics, a Bay Area startup that sells a refrigerator-sized robotic salad-maker on wheels. The airtight, contained design naturally lends itself to contactless food preparation, which is in demand these days.

Salad synergy™

1. The companies say the merger will accelerate Chowbotics’ product development and “market presence.”
2. DoorDash could offer these machines to its merchants, helping them expand menus and potential customer bases without too much additional overhead.

Bottom line: The hype for silicon chefs probably crested in 2018, when SoftBank invested $375 million in Zume Pizza. That robo-pizza-making bet “went really bad really fast,” per Businessweek.

Chowbotics, by comparison, raised ~$21 million total. While other food/drink-prep robotics companies may have bitten off more than they could chew, Chowbotics has stayed focused on a solvable use case.