As business models and market trends changing rapidly and coming into existence as a result of uncertain times and new accepted normal, many such new businesses have come into the spot light and garnered much attention and appreciation making them a much favoured option to buy fast-food now.
Acquisitions that paved the way for the idea of food vending machines
Last year Costa Coffee acquired robot-barista company, Briggo and it increased the market reach of the coffee-bots to hospitals, airports, corporate campuses, basically at all the high-traffic facilities, that too without the added costs of space leasing, building it out and hiring a staff.
This just one example an acquisition that allows those working on the vending machine to focus on the technology without worrying about stuff like financing the production of robots, grow business development relationships or run the food side of the business.
This idea of extending a brand without a lot of investment could makes vending machine start-ups attractive targets to big food/restaurant companies. Give a vending machine your brand name and set it up in a lobby and you get an unattended restaurant, just like that! And since automated vending machine companies are still relatively new and haven’t yet raise huge sums of money, they present a good deal for buying.
So whenever such an acquisition happens, the market is buzzing with speculations about which vending machine business would be the next to be acquired.
So according to those speculations, some of the below-discussed acquisitions could possibly make sense happening.
Probable contenders
BLENDID
What they make: Smoothies
Funding: $13.5 million (currently running an equity crowdfunding campaign to raise more)
Who might acquire them? Jamba
Why? Smaller, automated kiosks like Blendid’s could help Jamba squeeze into even more places like office building lobbies as Jamba and Blendid already have one co-branded smoothie robot operating at a Walmart in California.
PIESTRO
What they make: Pizza
Funding: $1.4 million (equity crowdfunded)
Who might acquire them? Domino’s
Why? Domino’s is almost as much a tech company as it is a pizza company. Piestro’s machine allows it to still sell fresh pizzas (not frozen), and even have them delivered by a robot.
CAFE X
What they make: Coffee
Funding: $14.5 million
Who might acquire them? Starbucks
Why? Due to the pandemic, Starbucks has already started rolling back its dine-in concepts, leaning more into takeout and off-premises. In addition to serving a multitude of drinks, Cafe X can also serve pastries.
YO-KAI EXPRESS
What they make: Ramen
Funding: Undisclosed
Who might acquire them? Sodexo
Why? Yo-Kai has already started installing machines on college campuses. Sodexo’s vast network of business on colleges could scale up Yo-Kai’s presence quickly. Plus Yo-Kai’s plans self-driving vending machines and countertop ramen devices could extend Sodexo’s reach further on campus and into actual dorm rooms.
