Corporate product development investor and incubator Wavemaker Labs is adding Nommi, an “automated delivery kitchen” robot to its portfolio. Wavemaker CFO Kevin Morris shared the previously unknown endeavor during a presentation at our ArticulATE food robotics summit yesterday.
Morris didn’t reveal much about Nommi other than an early rendering of a robotic kiosk and that it was being developed in partnership with a large hospitality company. Judging from the size of the machine in the rendering, Nommi appears to be something in between Chowbotics’ Sally and Spyce’s Infinite Kitchen. It holds a number of ingredients which are automatically dispensed and heated. Other renderings Morris showed illustrated how Nommi could also be installed in the back of a van, making it mobile, and inside a shipping container (a la Mezli).
Nommi is the latest food robot to be added to Wavemaker’s growing roster of automated food machines, which also includes Miso Robotics, Piestro, and Bobacino. As Morris explained during his talk yesterday, Wavemaker begins its process by identifying a problem in the food tech sector and then finds corporate partners to develop a specific solution. This approach helps hedge Wavemaker’s investment bets because there is already a customer for the robot in place once the product is done. In the case of Miso Robotics, for example, a fast food chain (presumably Caliburger) was looking to automate burger flipping and thus Miso Robotics’ Flipppy was born. Nommi is being developed in partnership with an undisclosed hospitality company which will help develop the menu, robotic capabilities and act as a first customer once the robot is done.
While Wavemaker is investing in and helping initially develop the Nommi, history suggests that at some point the bowl food bot will be turning to equity crowdfunding when it comes time to raise capital. Wavemaker companies Miso Robotics, Piestro, and Future Acres have all run equity campaigns over the past year.
Given the scant details that Morris shared with the ArticulATE virtual crowd, Nommi is probably still a couple years out from coming to market. But The Spoon will surely be covering it as it becomes a real thing.
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