France’s rich culinary history
set to be taken to another level
P
azzi, formerly known as EKIM, is
the world’s first fully automated
restaurant and it’s opening soon
having raised over €10-million Series A
round of funding.
The round was led by the Singaporean
investment fund Qualgro – its
first investment in Europe – along
with the French fund Eutopia, and
existing investors Partech and Daphni.
The new funding will allow Pazzi
to accelerate its technological
development by growing its R&D teams
and partnerships for the manufacture
of new ‘Pizzaiolo’ robots as well as
opening its first restaurant.
At roughly 45 square meters, the
Pazzi concept is something between
an automated kiosk and a regular-
sized restaurant. Shoppers customise
and order their pizzas via touchscreen,
which a three-armed robot makes,
cooks, and slices — all without humans.
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The Pazzi Pizzaiolo robot can, it is
claimed, make a pizza every 30 seconds.
The first Pazzi restaurant will be
in Montévrain, France, and opens on 24
June.
Founded by two young French
engineers with an interest in
robotics, Sébastien Roverso and Cyrill
Hamon, Pazzi is more than just a ‘pizza
robot company’. The startup’s mission is
to use the most advanced technology
in robotics and automation to provide a
plug-and-play solution to source quality
ingredients, recruit staff, increase food
traceability and safety and enhance the
fast food experience by offering
delicious and affordable pizzas.
“Pazzi means ‘crazy’ in
Italian,” said Philippe Goldman, CEO
of Pazzi. “It’s in the image of our team
and the crazy bet invested in research
for 6 years, concretized in particular
by five patents. The objective is now
to conquer not only the global fast
food market estimated at €900 billion
by creating a European champion but
also to fight junk food while meeting
the structural challenges of the sector.
Pazzi’s mission is to put technology
and robotics at the service of taste and
healthier food.”
“The autonomous restaurant concept
offered by Pazzi is meeting a growing
demand from consumers across
the world for fast, qualitative and
affordable food options,” said Heang
Chhor, founder of Qualgro VC. “Its user
friendly digital tools and exciting
robotics add to the overall great
consumer experience. We are convinced
that this concept could be rapidly
scaled and implemented in big cities
across USA, Europe and Asia. We are
very happy and proud to support the
Pazzi team and their disruptive concept
and technology in their international
expansion.”