Piestro, a start-up automating artisan pizza creation, is partnering with Kiwibot, the robotics company providing “affordable and accessible” delivery services, to offer consumers a touchless, contactless pizza delivery experience.
The partnership follows a successful campaign to raise finance on crowdfunding platform StartEngine, where Piestro had an oversubscription of investor interest.
As a result, Piestro will open a second funding campaign on StartEngine to give more everyday investors an opportunity to bring fresh, quality pizza to the masses.
With the onset of the pandemic came an increasing concern for greater health and safety measures across restaurants and an accelerated need to shift to a takeout and delivery model for operators.
In the “new normal”, consumers are spending more and more time at home, turning to quick access food options with minimal human contact.
Launched in July, Piestro drove investor interest for its ability to automate the pizza cooking process to three minutes, and a standalone pizzeria model that would make artisan quality pies available in public spaces closer to where consumers live – like apartment complex lobbies.
With just a press of a button, consumers are able to watch a pizza created in front of their eyes, with fresh ingredients cooked to consistent perfection.
Interest in a solution that would allow local and regional pizzeria operators to expand their takeout reach at a fraction of the cost and provide an entry point for new operators looking to capitalize on the $46.3 billion US pizza market, surged. Piestro had an oversubscription of interest, in record time.
With skyrocketing demand, a second campaign showcasing an evolved product roadmap since the start-up launched kicks off today.
Piestro is partnering with Kiwibot to deliver an improved contactless experience. Now, the final Piestro automated pizzeria will come integrated with a dispensing mechanism for Kiwibot, allowing for contactless delivery, further limiting the potential for customer exposure to harmful pathogens.
Through an in-app order and purchase, customers can select their preferred pizza design. The order is registered with Kiwibot and a bot is deployed to a Piestro location, where the pizza has been made through automation and timed to dispense upon arrive for maximum freshness and quality.
Kiwibot picks up the pizza and delivers directly to the consumers, creating a fully contactless experience from the time your pizza is made, to the moment in hand.
Massimo De Marco, CEO of Piestro, says: “This is such an exciting partnership for us.
“The demand we saw was so high to bring Piestro to market and we knew it was the right time to really double down on our product roadmap to meet the needs of operators and customer alike.
“Integrating Kiwibot into our system and making fresh, deliciously crafted pizzas accessible in an easy, fast and contactless format positions us to bring our Piestro automated pizzeria to market stronger than ever.”
David Rodriguez, head of business at Kiwibot, says: “Kiwibot is all about affordable delivery and contactless execution.
“Partnering with Piestro is great synergy for consumers who want to have access to their local pizza favorites with speedy delivery and seamless ease.
“Our relationship with Piestro is just one more way operators can offset the big margin cuts normal delivery services take, that make it so difficult to stay in business.”
Piestro is already backed by experts in the food automation space. Its lead investor, Wavemaker Partners, is a global venture capital fund with $400M AUM and its studio, Wavemaker Labs, focuses directly on automation.
Interested investors can learn more and invest in Piestro at Start Engine.
