A worker wears a Sweetgreen Inc. hat. while preparing food at the company’s restaurant in Boston, Massachusetts.
Adam Glanzman | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Sweetgreen salad chain announced Tuesday that it bought Spyce, a Boston restaurant company that became famous for its automated kitchen.
Since its founding in 2015, Spyce has raised $ 24.88 million from investors, including famed chef Daniel Boulud, according to Pitchbook. The company’s robotic kitchen and conveyor belts can cook and serve their hot bowls and salads without any human intervention. Spyce has two restaurants, both in Boston.
The acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter of this year. Financial conditions were not disclosed.
Sweetgreen said it is determining where and how it will incorporate Spyce technology into its own restaurants. The company said the deal is intended to improve the customer experience by placing orders more quickly and accurately and giving its employees more time to focus on food preparation.
The deal follows Sweetgreen’s June proposal to submit confidentiality to an initial public offering. Owning Spyce’s technology could make Sweetgreen more attractive to investors as it seeks to enter public markets. Rising labor costs have been putting pressure on the profits of the restaurant industry, prompting companies to invest in automation and artificial intelligence technology to take on simpler tasks. For example, McDonald’s bought Apprente in 2019 and has recently begun testing software to receive orders from the access lanes of some Chicago restaurants.
Sweetgreen’s latest round of funding earlier this year valued it at nearly $ 1.8 billion after the coronavirus pandemic boosted massive growth in its digital sales. As it is still a private company, it does not disclose its financial results.