Restaurants
Investors get a rise out of Walmart’s agreement to stock more Beyond Meat
Beyond Meat shares soared today on the heels of an announcement that Walmart is beefing up its relationship with the purveyor of meatless protein patties, sausages, and balls. 900 stores will now be s
Malaysia-based inventory management platform Food Market Hub raises $4 million from Go-Ventures, SIG
Many restaurants still rely on spreadsheets to track their inventory of produce, meat and other ingredients. But using manual methods often results in food wastage and higher costs. Malaysia-based Foo
McDonald’s to launch a McPlant vegetarian option
McDonald’s is developing what it calls a plant-based platform called the McPlant that will debut in markets around the world early next year, according to a report in USA Today. In an investor m
Marriott International announces partnership with Grab in six Southeast Asian countries
The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the hospitality industry especially hard, and hotels around the world are looking for ways to regain revenue. Today, Marriott International and Grab announced a partnersh
Impossible Foods nabs some Canadian fast food franchises as it expands in North America
After rolling out in some of Canada’s most high-falutin burger bistros, Impossible Foods is hitting Canada’s fast casual market with new menu items at national chains like White Spot and T
Jakarta-based Wahyoo gets $5 million Series A to help small eateries digitize their operations
While growing up, Peter Shearer watched his mother get up every day at 2AM or 3AM to prepare for her catering business. For many people who own small food businesses in Indonesia, “everything is
White Castle becomes the first fast food chain to test out the robot fry cook, Flippy, from Miso Robotics
The next time Harold and Kumar go to a White Castle, there may be a robot making their French Fries. In one of the first trials of a robotic fry cook at a national burger chain, White Castle said it w
Mercato Partners just launched Savory, a $90 million fund focused on fueling fast-casual restaurant concepts
Mercato Partners, a 13-year-old, Salt Lake City, Utah-based investment firm that oversees a growth fund, a secondary investment fund and a venture fund, has launched yet another fund — this one
Nextdoor updates its app to allow businesses to link to fundraisers, gift cards and more
Neighborhood social networking app Nextdoor is rolling out a few changes focused on supporting local businesses. The COVID-19 outbreak has forced many businesses to close their doors, sometimes for go
Bay Area effort to help restaurants feed hospital workers partners with Jose Andres’ World Central Kitchen
An effort I’ve been following in the Bay Area to deliver meals to front-line hospital clinicians dealing with the results of COVID-19 is announcing a big new partnership today that should give it a
Instagram founder launches gift card site for quarantined restaurants
Coronavirus quarantines are hurting local businesses, but Instagram co-founder Mike Krieger wants to help them keep revenue rolling in. Krieger and his wife Kaitlyn this week launched SaveOurFaves, a
Robotics startup Picnic, known for its automated pizza assembly system, raises $5 million
Picnic, a robotics startup that focuses on food production, announced today that it has raised $5 million in additional seed funding. The new round was led by Creative Ventures, with participation fro
Deliveroo launches food orders for pickup
Don’t Deliveroo. The U.K.-based on-demand food delivery service has expanded into not actually delivering orders by offering users a pickup option, called “Pickup,” as an alternative
Bear Robotics is raising big bucks for robots that deliver food to restaurant patrons
Some days, it feels like there’s almost no end to the number of jobs that might be replaced altogether or in some part by smart machines, from radiologists to truck drivers to, gulp, journalists
Domino’s launches e-bike delivery to compete with UberEats, DoorDash
Domino’s will start using custom electric bikes for pizza delivery through a partnership with Rad Power Bikes, as it aims to become more competitive with on-demand apps like DoorDash, GrubHub a
How to avoid an IPO
Hello and welcome back to Equity, TechCrunch’s venture capital-focused podcast, where we unpack the numbers behind the headlines.
Luckin Coffee plans to raise over $500M in US IPO
Luckin Coffee, the ambitious Chinese upstart that’s going after Starbucks, could raise nearly $600 million from its upcoming IPO. That’s according to a price range released by the Chinese
Starbucks CEO says Chinese rival Luckin’s ‘heavy discount’ strategy isn’t sustainable
A war of words in the coffee world is brewing after the CEO of Starbucks claimed Chinese upstart Luckin can’t last just days after it filed for a U.S IPO. Kevin Johnson, who leads the American c
Toast, the restaurant management platform, has raised $250M at a $2.7B valuation
Restaurant sales hit $825 billion last year in the U.S., but with margins averaging at only three to five percent per business, they’re always looking for an edge on efficiency and just generall
Starbucks will anchor the new $400 million food-focused Valor Siren Ventures fund
Starbucks is serving up a steaming hot $100 million cash commitment to anchor a new food-focused fund in partnership with the consumer and tech-focused focused private equity firm Valor Equity Partner