3D food printing has been one of those categories that has wowed folks at pop up restaurants and trade shows, but has yet to attract much in the way of investment dollars.
Until now. That’s because BeeHex, a company created when CEO Anjan Contractor won a contract with NASA to develop a pizza printer for space, has landed $1 million in seed funding from pizza mogul Jim Grote, founder of Donatos Pizza.
The first BeeHex product, the Chef 3D, will be targeted at professional environments, starting with pizza restaurants and later extending into other types of food.
As Grote told Techcrunch, “After pizza, this technology could be used for a wide range of foods. The company has mastered the technology around dough, which is a real challenge. So it would make sense to expand into other baked goods, potentially.”
Jordan French, BeeHex CMO, told The Spoon that he thinks the commercial and novelty market for 3D food printing is much further along than the consumer market. Kids restaurants, fairs and festivals make lots of sense for a food printer from BeeHex.
Unlike traditional 3D printers that use additive manufacturing and materials like powders, the BeeHex system uses pneumatic systems to dispense ingredients.
BeeHex joins other companies such as Natural Machines and 3D Systems in the race to make market viable 3D food printers.
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