Participated · Series C · Jul 2022

Kitchen United operates a platform combining commercial kitchen space, restaurant-hub technology and streamlined logistics to help foodservice operators enter new markets, grow off-premises revenue and expand delivery areas. Its technology enables customers to order from multiple prepared food and consumer goods brands on the same ticket and with the same delivery driver, synchronized to maximize quality and payload while minimizing time and expense. The company also develops Kitchen United OS, a multi-concept ordering technology platform used by national restaurant brands. Led by CEO Michael Montagano, Kitchen United currently powers approximately 200 operational kitchens across 20 regions. The company plans to increase both its technological and physical presence, with continued focus on Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, Texas and other U.S. trade areas. Management intends to use the recent funding to accelerate growth and expand operations. Kitchen United operates commercial kitchen centers that house 10–15 restaurant brands each, providing operators a value-driven, low-risk way to enter new markets and expand delivery areas by removing capital and technology barriers. Launched in 2017 and headquartered in Pasadena, Calif., the company positions itself as a strategic real estate partner for restaurant chains as consumer preference shifts to off-premise dining. Kitchen United handles operations so restaurant brands can focus on food while scaling via shared kitchen infrastructure. The company cites a large addressable market—William Blair estimated U.S. off-premise restaurant sales at $279B in 2018, growing to an expected $402B in 2022. Current locations include Pasadena and Chicago, with upcoming openings in Scottsdale and Austin and additional sites under construction in Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles and other major markets. As part of its growth strategy, Kitchen United plans to enter New York City through a relationship with RXR Realty to open kitchen centers in RXR and other Tri-State properties. The company recently closed a financing round to support expansion into its primary growth markets, including New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Boston. Kitchen United is a virtual-restaurant concept that operates "Kitchen Centers" — converted warehouse, big-box or light-industrial facilities that can house 10–20 restaurants and centralize delivery production. The company aggregates demographic and cuisine-specific demand data to select locations and provide restaurant partners opt-in consumer and operational intelligence to tailor menus, staffing and operations. Kitchen United positions its offering as a lower-cost, lower-risk way for national, regional and local chains and food entrepreneurs to enter new markets and expand off-premise dining. Launched in 2017 and headquartered in Los Angeles, the company says its centers create operational efficiencies and reduce delivery costs while expanding partners' addressable delivery markets. Kitchen United plans to use recent funding to accelerate national growth and to build its real estate, marketing, engineering and operations teams. Leadership brings experience from chains and hospitality companies including Taco Bell, McDonald’s, SBE Entertainment and Wolfgang Puck.

Participated · Series D · Nov 2021

Nuro began with compact autonomous delivery vehicles and in 2024 pivoted toward licensing its self-driving software to automakers and transportation service providers. The company is developing an autonomous driving platform to be integrated into midsize vehicles and Lucid Gravity SUVs for passenger transport. Nuro has regulatory approvals in California to test vehicles without safety operators and to carry passengers during supervised trials as it prepares for a public launch later this year. Its strategic partnership with Uber and Lucid targets deployment of up to 35,000 autonomous taxis, with broader service goals set for 2027. Major investors include Nvidia and SoftBank, and recent financing activity assigns Nuro a $6 billion valuation following a $203 million round.

Participated · Equity · Dec 2020

TuSimple develops self‑driving truck systems and operates testing fleets with human safety operators for long‑haul highway routes. The company began public‑road testing in 2018, including a 120‑mile stretch between Tucson and Phoenix and segments in Shanghai. It maintains a global headquarters in San Diego, an engineering center and truck depot in Tucson, and additional operations and a facility in Texas to support autonomous trips; it also has operations in Beijing and Shanghai. TuSimple has expanded its commercial partnerships and investor base to include logistics and automotive players such as UPS, Mando, Traton Group and U.S. Xpress. The company continues to scale testing and operations in the U.S. while diversifying strategic investors and customers. Financially, TuSimple has raised $648 million since its 2015 founding, including a recent $350 million round. TuSimple develops autonomous driving systems and software for heavy commercial trucks. The company operates a fleet of 40 self-driving trucks in the U.S., used for testing and freight runs between Arizona and Texas. TuSimple was launched in 2015 and has operations in China, San Diego and Tucson, Arizona. It is backed by investors including Sina, Nvidia, UPS and Tier 1 supplier Mando Corporation. TuSimple is working with partners to move from retrofitting to purpose-built autonomous semis, including a 2024 production plan with Navistar. The new partnership with Traton will expand operations into Europe and aims to develop Level 4 autonomy on Scania trucks, beginning testing on a route between Södertälje and Jönköping in Sweden. TuSimple builds a full-stack Level 4 autonomous driving system for long-haul trucks. The company operates testing programs and fleets in China, San Diego and Tucson, Arizona, and reports more than 50 trucks and 18 contracted customers. TuSimple was founded in 2015. It plans to use new funding to continue developing its autonomous vehicle technology and to expand long-haul routes in Arizona and Texas. Financially, the company has raised $298 million in total funding to date. TuSimple has conducted public-road testing since 2018 and runs daily tests with partners such as UPS on routes between Phoenix and Tucson. TuSimple develops camera-centric Level 4 autonomous driving systems for commercial trucks and operates daily commercial routes in Arizona. The company runs three to five fully autonomous trips per day across three routes and has 12 contracted customers. TuSimple emphasizes a camera-based perception stack (claiming a 1,000-meter vision range) while using LiDAR for mapping and some data collection. On-road trips run with two safety engineers—one behind the wheel and one monitoring data—and the company says these paid runs both generate revenue and validate its system. TuSimple plans to scale its commercial fleet to more than 50 trucks by June and expand fully autonomous deliveries into Texas. It is also funding joint production programs and integrations with OEMs, Tier 1 suppliers and sensor partners to enable commercial production and operation of self-driving trucks. TuSimple develops a full-stack autonomous driving system for line-haul trucking that integrates perception, localization, mapping, motion planning, control and actuation. The company uses advanced sensor fusion of cameras and radars to detect and track objects beyond 200 meters and its localization achieves consistent decimeter-level precision. Its decision-making system adapts to road conditions, including lane changes and speed adjustments, to maximize safety and efficiency. TuSimple demonstrated an SAE Level 4 self-driving system in Shanghai and is ramping up deployments in the U.S., starting in Tucson, Arizona. The company is focused on scaling testing to two full truck fleets—one in China and one in the U.S.—and is building a production engineering team in Tucson while maintaining R&D in San Diego and Beijing. TuSimple is led by CEO Mo Chen.