San Francisco Bay Area-based All Day Kitchens (formerly Virtual Kitchen Co.) announced today it has raised a $20 million Series B round, bringing the company’s total funding to $37.5 million. This round was led by Founders Fund with participation from Khosla Ventures, DoorDash CEO Tony Xu, and Opendoor CEO Eric Wu. Existing investors Andreessen Horowitz and Base10 also participated.
The new funds will support the company’s debut in Chicago, Illinois, which happens today. The company has partnered with a mix of local and independently owned restaurants for its Chicago facility.
This is All Day Kitchens’ first expansion outside of the Bay Area. Up to now, the company has operated a handful of facilities around that region, where they currently have 10 locations and 16 restaurant partners. That includes San Francisco institutions like Dosa and Nopalito.
Further locations are planned for San Francisco, as well as in other (to be named) parts of California. All Day Kitchens also plans to set up shop in Texas “within the next year,” according to today’s news announcement.
When the company launched its first kitchen in 2019, delivery-only and distributed kitchens were little-known phrases in the restaurant industry, let alone with the general population. The move towards this format of using kitchens designed specifically for delivery meals was well underway at the start of 2020. To say the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated restaurants’ adoption of the delivery-only kitchen into their operations is the understatement of the week. What was not so long ago a niche concept now sees participation from major QSR brands, fine dining establishments, and celebrities alike.
One oft-overlooked segment, however, is the one for smaller restaurants and independent chains. Moving forward, All Day Kitchens’ focus on that could be an important point of differentiation.
Future plans include adding more onsite ordering and pickup at locations, which could start to double as food halls with that functionality.
