Miso Robotics, creator of Flippy the burger grilling robot, announced today that it is looking to raise a $30 million through equity crowdfunding for its next round of financing. The company’s last round was a $10 million Series B back in February of 2018, and Miso has raised nearly $15 million in total to date.
By going the crowdfunding route, individuals can invest in and receive actual equity in Miso Robotics. As with any investment, there is risk involved and no guarantee of financial return. Miso is using SeedInvest’s (by Circle) equity crowdfunding platform, along Wavemaker Labs, to execute the fundraise.
Miso is most famous for its Flippy robot, an articulating arm that can grill burgers as well as fry french fries, tater tots and chicken tenders. Flippy’s first gig was with fast casual chain CaliBurger, and additional robots have since gone on to work at LA Dodgers Stadium and Arizona Diamondbacks Chase Field.
On the crowdfunding page, the company says that it has a pre-money valuation of $80 million and that individuals looking to buy in must make a $1,500 minimum investment. Also, in a move that seems somewhat comedic, given the money involved, the company lists perks available for different investment tiers. A $3,000 investment gets you a Miso Robotics hat and a voucher for 5 free CaliBurgers. Invest $250,000 or more and you get “10 Miso Robotics hats and voucher for 100 free CaliBurgers, 1 PopID facial recognition scanner installed at your home or place of business, Trip to Los Angeles for 4 people to a regular season LA Dodgers game.” Why someone would want a facial recognition scanner meant for restaurant loyalty programs in their house, I’m not sure.
The fact that Miso is crowdfunding its next round is made all the more intriguing since we learned last month that Miso Robotics Co-Founder and CEO, Dave Zito, as well as COO, Melissa Hampton Burghardt, were no longer with the company. Reasons for their departure were not given. However Zito sent us a statement at that time saying he was still the company’s largest shareholder.
Equity crowdfunding seems to be more of a thing nowadays, with companies like GOffee and GoSun both running such campaigns. But we are curious as to why a company with Miso Robotics’ pedigree would go down the equity crowdfunding path, given the complexity of its technology and earlier fundraising achievements.
With the campaign officially launched, we’ll see if everyday investors will flip over Flippy.
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