Robotic kitchen startup Aniai(에니아이) has secured a pre-Series A round of funding worth approximately $1.2 million (KRW 15.7 billion).
The round was led by Intervest, with new participation from SV Investment and UK-based investor Ignite Innovation. Existing investor Capstone Partners also made a follow-on investment. This brings Aniai’s cumulative funding to $15 million (KRW 19.7 billion).
Aniai was attracted to this round of funding because of its growth potential and proven business performance in the Korean and US hamburger markets. The company has supplied its Alpha Grill burger cooking robot to seven brands including DOWNTOWNER, BAS BURGER, CJ FRESHWAY and Mom’s Touch, and secured 500 pre-orders from burger franchises including Lotteria, Teisty Burger and FAULT BURGER.
The company has also signed non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) with two major US burger franchises and is currently conducting local pilot tests for the introduction of the Alpha Grill. Aniai aims to begin full-scale robot installations within the next six to 12 months.
With this investment, Aniai will launch Factory One, its domestic manufacturing facility for the Alpha Grill burger cooking robot. The company is building its own factory to ensure a stable robot production and supply system in line with the continued growth of its domestic and international business. The factory, located in Incheon, has a production capacity of 1,000 units per year.
Aniai will also showcase its cloud-based artificial intelligence (AI) technology. The robot will use vision sensors to detect the surface colour of the patties in real time and assess their quality. If a patty is undercooked below a certain level, the robot will immediately alert the cooking staff for systematic quality control. Aniai will demonstrate this feature for the first time at the National Restaurant Association show in Chicago in May this year.
Gunpil Hwang, CEO of Aniai, said: “We were able to secure funding beyond our initial target due to our sales performance and technological competitiveness. This year, we will continue to widen the technology gap in the market by strengthening our software capabilities as well as our hardware.
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