Bear Robotics raises $81 million for waitering robot rollout

Bear Robotics, a SoftBank Group Corp-backed food service robot startup, has raised $81 million in a Series B funding round.

Heading the investment round was 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.

Bear Robotics’ co-founder and chief operating officer Juan Higueros declined 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.

Bear Robotics charges a $999 monthly fee for Servi in the U.S., 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 can detect air quality on the move and another that can carry deliveries from the lobby to upper floors of a building via the elevator.

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