Led · Series B · Feb 2018

Miso Robotics develops autonomous kitchen robots and back-of-house automation for restaurants, notably the Flippy robotic fry station. Its products leverage advanced computer vision technology to automate fry-station tasks with speed and precision while promoting food safety and quality standards. Led by chairman and founder Buck Jordan, the company is pursuing growth and innovation through partnerships and automation-driven digital solutions. The reported investment from Ecolab is intended to support Miso’s growth and enable collaboration to explore opportunities to enhance food safety, hygiene, and operational efficiency. Miso is based in Pasadena, California. The article does not disclose Miso’s revenue, user metrics, or the precise amount of the funding beyond describing it as a multi-million dollar investment. Miso Robotics builds automation products for fast-food and quick-service restaurant kitchens, including the rail-mounted ROAR (Robot on a Rail). ROAR is a rail-based evolution of Flippy that can operate two stations, interact with a cold storage hopper, and be installed on a floor or under a standard kitchen hood. It is expected to begin shipping commercially by the end of 2020 for around $30,000 (about half the cost of Flippy), and the company is working to cut ROAR’s price in half by lowering hardware costs. Software upgrades to Miso AI expanded cookable categories to more than a dozen items and enable POS integration to route orders and optimize tasks. ROAR uses cameras and safety scanners to prep hundreds of orders an hour and automates tasks such as scraping grills, draining and skimming fry oil, and alerting staff when orders are ready. The company reports deployments of Flippy at more than 50 CaliBurger locations and venues including Dodger Stadium and Chase Field, and says it served over 15,000 burgers and more than 31,000 pounds of chicken tenders and tots. Miso Robotics is a Pasadena-based hardware startup that builds Flippy, a hamburger-cooking robot and kitchen-assistant platform. The company combines robotics with an AI-based vision system and an AI platform for kitchen assistants. It is ramping up production and preparing to deliver Flippy to 50 CaliBurger locations, with a public debut at the Pasadena CaliBurger planned in the coming weeks. CEO and co-founder Dave Zito said the new funding will be used to develop and scale the company's kitchen assistants and AI platform. Financially, Miso announced a $10 million Series B led by Acacia Research Corporation, bringing its total disclosed funding to $14 million. The round includes strategic participation from Levy, a Chicago-based hospitality company, alongside existing investors who "doubled-down" after seeing the company's progress. Miso Robotics develops AI-driven robotics and automation for the restaurant industry, best known for Flippy, an adaptable robotic kitchen assistant that works alongside kitchen staff to improve operational efficiency. The company plans to roll out Flippy in early 2018 to CaliBurger, its first customer, with the expectation of future expansion to CaliBurger restaurants worldwide. Miso intends to use the $3.1 million funding to grow its team of roboticists and AI experts and deepen collaborative ties with the Caltech community. Acacia Research has also entered an IP services agreement with Miso to help drive AI-based solutions across the restaurant industry. The company employs roboticists, engineers and industrial designers from Caltech, MIT, Carnegie Mellon, Art Center and UNC Chapel Hill. Miso was founded by John Miller and David Zito; David Zito is CEO.

Led · Equity · Feb 2018

Bitzumi is a digital content and asset platform building opportunities in the cryptocurrency and blockchain industries, including a next-generation decentralized exchange. The company intends to develop and acquire a large network of crypto- and blockchain-related digital properties. Bitzumi filed a Regulation A Offering Statement (which has been qualified by the SEC) and has submitted a listing application to Nasdaq. Co-founders include James Altucher and Scot Cohen. Bitzumi entered a Joint Venture and Services Agreement with Acacia Research under which Acacia will provide patent-related services and help develop an IP strategy. Acacia completed an initial $1 million equity investment and holds warrants and rights to make additional share purchases under the agreement.

Led · Convertible Note · Aug 2016

Veritone provides AI analytics, search and predictive solutions that render every second and frame of audio and video content searchable for objects, faces, license plates, logos, phrases, sentiment, voice identification and translation. The company serves media firms, corporate enterprise, political campaigns and government, with clients ranging from small firms to Fortune 100 companies. Current clients and partners cited include Microsoft, Uber, ESPN Radio, Nuance, Westwood One, LegalZoom, Spark Agency, Taco Bell, the Republican National Committee and Dollar Shave Club. Led by Executive Chairman and CEO Chad Steelberg and co-founder and President Ryan Steelberg, Veritone is positioning to expand its global presence. The company is based in Newport Beach, California. The announced financing is intended to provide working capital to support that expansion. Veritone is a Newport Beach-based provider of services to help companies with cross-media advertising. The company serves the broadcast and advertising market. In May 2015 it raised $34.0M in a funding round, though details of the financing were not announced. Investors and deal specifics were not disclosed in the article. The funding was disclosed in the PricewaterhouseCoopers/NVCA MoneyTree report. No revenue, user, founding-year, or prior-round information was provided in the article.