Tech Talk: SoftBank-backed Bear Robotics raises $81 mln for waitering robot rollout – Gulf Digital News

Tech Talk: SoftBank-backed Bear Robotics raises $81 mln for waitering robot rollout – Gulf Digital News

SoftBank Group Corp-backed  food service robot startup Bear Robotics has raised $81 million in a Series B funding round with investors that include Cleveland Avenue, a venture capital firm founded by a former McDonalds chief executive.

Other investors include South Korean private equity firm IMM and telco KT Corp, the startup's co-founder and chief operating officer Juan Higueros told Reuters, declining to disclose the firm's latest valuation.

Bear Robotics has shipped more than 5,000 of its Servi food service robots, which carry food and drink between kitchen and tables on layers of trays, and partnered with industry players such as Denny's, Chili's and Pepsi.

The California-based startup aims to expand beyond its home market and Japan and South Korea, where it has partnered with SoftBank and KT respectively, into Europe and Southeast Asia amid industry labour shortages.

SoftBank led the startup's Series A round and has shifted to reselling robots from third parties and formed a joint venture with household goods maker Iris Ohyama in Japan.

Bear Robotics charges a $999 monthly fee for Servi in the US, which gives the robot a running cost of around $2.75 per hour, Higueros said.

The startup plans to roll out two new robots this year, one that