Restaurant Roundup: Robots Take Over Campuses, Kitchens

Restaurant Roundup: Robots Take Over Kitchens

Funds are pouring in for automated solutions that promise to reduce labor needs at every step of the restaurant supply chain.

On the delivery side, Berkeley, California-based sidewalk delivery robotics startup Kiwibot announced in a Thursday (Feb. 17) announcement a contract expansion with food services and facilities management company Sodexo to grow its college presence to reach 50 campuses by the end of the year. With this move, the company’s fleet will reach 1,200 robots.

“The early success of our Kiwibot partnership has shown that automated delivery is not only possible and reliable, it’s desirable,” said Sodexo North America Chair Sarosh Mistry in the announcement. “…This year, more students than ever will benefit from autonomous delivery, and we’re pleased to be at the forefront of this emerging market.”

Along with this expansion, Kiwibot also that it has raised $7.5 million in a pre-Series A round with participation from Sodexo, such that the company’s total funding now amounts to $14 million.

“We have been intensely working in the robotic food delivery field for the last five years, and this funding will allow us to expand the business at the speed that the market is demanding,” Kiwibot CEO and Co-Founder Felipe Chávez Cortés commented.

Restaurant Kitchen Robotics Company Hyphen Announces $24M Series A Fundraise

Also in restaurant robotics fundraising news, Hyphen, a company that creates automated solutions for commercial kitchens, has raised $24 million in its Series A funding round, according to a Wednesday (Feb. 16) press release.

The round was led by Tiger Global and included participation from a range of industry insiders, including Steve Fredette, the co-founder and president of Toast, and Donald Moore, former chief culinary officer and executive vice president at The Cheesecake Factory. This fundraise brings the company’s total to $34.4 million.

“Amid labor shortages and increasing customer demand for takeout and delivery, restaurants need ways to increase throughput and improve efficiency,” said Griffin Schroeder, partner at lead investor Tiger Global, in the release. “Hyphen created an intuitive and reliable solution that does both.”

The company’s first product is an automated makeline that promises to make 350 meals per hour, which is slated for deployment in 2024.

Read more: Hyphen’s Restaurant Robotics Fend off Delivery Giants

Smoothie King Launches SMS-Based Ordering Pilot

As restaurants increasingly seek out ways to integrate the ordering experience into consumers’ daily routines, some brands are using conversational commerce features to remove friction from the purchasing process.

Dallas, Texas-based chain Smoothie King, which has over 1,300 locations in the United States and abroad, announced in a Monday (Feb. 14) press release the launch of a pilot test of a text-to-order platform, which allows consumers to order and pay via SMS text messaging, in Chicago and Jacksonville.

“The rollout of our text-to-order platform is just another way that our brand continues to innovate and stay one step ahead of our competition,” said Smoothie King Chief Information Officer Chris Andrews in the release. “We are the first to market in the QSR space for this feature and look forward to launching it in markets across the country throughout the year.”

New York Congressman Calls for $60B Restaurant Revitalization Fund Replenishment

As restaurants continue to struggle with ongoing pandemic related challenges compounded by labor, supply chain and inflationary pressures, some are calling for additional federal relief.

New York Congressman Joe Morelle announced Tuesday (Feb. 15) that, in collaboration with New York State restaurant owners, he is calling for an additional $60 billion replenishment to the $28.7 billion allocated in the American Rescue Plan’s Restaurant Revitalization fund in March.

“The restaurant industry has been devastated by the pandemic, and there is a critical need for additional relief,” said Representative Morelle in a statement. “I’m calling for immediate action to replenish the Restaurant Revitalization Fund and I will continue advocating for solutions to help restaurants get through these challenging times.”

See also: National Restaurant Association Urges Congress to Replenish Relief Fund in Response to Delta Variant

Flying Cars Can Wait: CES Shows Future Is Robots That Cool Your Soup, Pick Up Socks

AI Me gadget from CES 2025

What do the movies “Blade Runner,” “2001: A Space Odyssey,” “Back to the Future Part II” and Spike Jonze’s “Her” all have in common?

These science fiction movies, each depicting various versions of a future full of fantastic technologies, all take place in the year 2025 or earlier.

Though some of the high-tech gadgets and futuristic innovations seen in these films, such as hoverboards and flying cars, haven’t quite materialized in everyday life, they have sparked imagination and set the stage for the very real innovations. As the dozens of groundbreaking products and wacky gadgets that debuted at the 2025 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this week reveal, the future is certainly now.

CES, after all, rarely disappoints when it comes to providing a first-look at some truly strange gadgets that might just represent the ultimate showcase of tomorrow’s technology.

From artificial intelligence (AI) being embedded into everything and smarter than ever home devices, to autonomous robotic companions and wearable tech that both bends and blends reality, many of the inventions that once seemed out of reach in Hollywood films are now being unveiled on the convention floor.

See also: The Five Not-So-Obvious Things That Will Change the Digital Economy in 2025

Could Smart Home Robots Revolutionize Daily Life?

It’s becoming clear that today’s technological advancements are increasingly bridging the gap between what was once imagined and what’s now becoming real.

For example, smart home robots are no longer a futuristic fantasy — they are being positioned as potentially indispensable components of modern households.

CES 2025 saw the debut of the Roborock Saros Z70, a robot vacuum with a telescopic, five-axis arm. Rosey the Robot from “The Jetsons” has nothing on this little gadget, which its maker describes as “a mechanical arm that sees and thinks,” and is able to pick up and put away items like socks, shoes, tissues and more.

For more serious household tasks, the SwitchBot Multitasking Household Robot K20+ Pro was also unveiled at CES 2025. “Whether it’s delivering objects, vacuuming, monitoring pets, purifying the air, providing home security, or even mobilizing smart tablets, the K20+ Pro juggles household management with ease … from delivering food and drinks to carrying small packages,” said a company release.

Read more: Training Robots Using Video Games Could Democratize Warehouse Automation

The K20+ Pro’s core is designed for customization and flexibility, serving as a modular foundation that allows users to create, adapt, and personalize the robot for a wide variety of innovative applications, and can connect with third-party smart devices like Alexa, Google Assistant and Siri, ensuring integration into any smart home ecosystem.

Elsewhere, TCL premiered its “AI Me” (Amy) concept companion robot, complete with animated eyes, autonomous movement and an AI-powered camera on its head; while Dreame showcased its X50 Ultra robot vacuum that has legs to avoid obstacles.

As smart home technology continues to evolve, the integration of robots designed to assist in daily activities could significantly alter how we interact with our homes, manage tasks and even shape the future of work.

TomBot, for example, debuted an emotional robotic lap dog, Jennie, an AI robot therapy dog designed to keep seniors company. On the more playful side of things, Tokyo robotics startup Yukai Engineering introduced the Nékojita FuFu, a portable cat-shaped robot that can blow air to cool hot food or drinks.

It wasn’t solely robotics for use at home being showcased at CES. John Deere used the Las Vegas event to reveal its own autonomous agricultural products. The fully autonomous machines were on display from Jan. 7 to 10, and were a bit bigger in size, if equivalently less cute, than the TomBot puppies.

Read more: Google Reportedly Bringing Gemini AI to TV Sets

The Future Is Calling and Consumers Can Answer Anywhere

Behind the strangely futuristic convenience of a robot picking up your laundry and taking out the trash while it vacuums and interfaces with the rest of your household appliances lies a much larger story: the rise of the smart economy.

As CES 2025 showed, augmented reality (AR) glasses are the eye candy of the smart economy. A host of futuristic specs were unveiled, capable of a range of tasks that turn the wearer into a high-tech superhero.

Halliday showcased “the world’s first proactive AI glasses with invisible display,” while freshly debuted Loomos.AI glasses offer a ChatGPT-4o integrated AI assistant.

But other appendages remain up for grabs, and innovative products from smart rings to apps like WowMouse, which allows smartwatch wearers to control devices using just their gestures and fingers, are vying for market share in ways that aim to make daily life more convenient, efficient and secure.