Currently operating in San Francisco with three locations, Cafe X isn’t your average café: there’s no seating and the bar is staffed by a robotic arm that makes your drinks.
According to Crunchbase news, this $9.4 million is part of a $12.01 million funding round. Filings from August 1 with The United States Securities and Exchange Commission show that Cafe X Technologies, Inc. has just over $2.5 million left to raise and had 26 investors at the time of filing. Jason Calacanis, an angel investor and the lead investor during Cafe X’s 2015 Angel funding round, is listed as a related persons in the offering.
Cafe X was founded in 2015 by current CEO Henry Hu, he used a $100,000 grant he received as a Thiel Fellow to initially finance the operation.
To get a cup of morning joe, customers place an order via the touchscreen on the Cafe X bar, or using the Cafe X app. When the drink is ready, a text is sent to the customer.
“We knew a robot could create an exceptional cup of coffee, but we also wanted it to appear warm and friendly,” inventor Henry Hu told CNBC when Cafe X first debuted. “The baristas to me looked like factory workers… they were moving cups around and pushing buttons, which made me think, ‘I bet we can build a product that automates these boring tasks way more efficiently.”
