DaVinci Kitchen, a German startup making an autonomous robotic pasta kiosk, has raised more than €500,000 (~$591,000 USD) through equity crowdfunding. The company’s campaign ran from March to the end of June this year on Seedmatch, with 488 investors participating. Combined with a previous Seed round, DaVinci has raised now raised €1.35M (~$1.6M USD).
DaVinci’s pasta station is a self-contained pasta-making kiosk that’s 2.1m wide by 2.5m high and 2.4m long. Customers use an app to place orders and customize their meals, and an articulating arm swings about preparing and plating the dish. The DaVinci can make 40 meals per hour. As company Founder Vick Jorge Manuel explained to me last year, pasta is actually just the beginning for the kiosk, as different components (like a deep fryer) can be swapped into make all manner of cuisines and dishes.
DaVinci is just the latest robot startup to use equity crowdfunding to raise money. Blendid, Kiwibot, and a bunch of companies in Wavemaker Labs’ portfolio (Piestro, Bobacino, Miso Robotics) have all turned to the crowd to raise capital. Part of the allure of equity crowdfunding is that it allows a company to raise money without the pressure to scale that can come with institutional VC funding. Additionally, equity crowdfunding can act as a marketing vehicle and helps build a community around a product. For more, check out this panel from our recent ArticulATE conference all about the ins and outs of equity crowdfunding. (Spoon Plus membership required.)
Through an exchange on Linkedin over this past weekend, DaVinci told me that the company will use the new money to finish its pre-production version kiosk, with the goal of opening up its own test restaurant in Leipzig. DaVinci will also start to raise a traditional round of funding for its Series A starting in September.
