DoorDash acquires food robotics company Chowbotics

US food delivery service DoorDash has announced its acquisition of Chowbotics, the creator of a fresh food and salad robot, as it looks to explore how automation can support the growth of restaurants.

While the companies did not disclose the terms of the deal, Chowbotics was valued at $46 million in 2018, according to data firm PitchBook.

Chowbotics is the company behind the robot Sally, which can create customisable salads and fresh food – including grains, poke bowls, parfaits, cereals and snacks – to consumers 24/7. The automated machine can dispense a wide variety of natural ingredients with a range of physical properties.

The company’s flagship robot – which first came to market in 2018 – can prepare the healthy, custom meals at a touch of a button and has been deployed to locations such as universities, hospitals and grocery stores.

Following the integration of Chowbotics into the DoorDash platform, the food delivery service says it will provide merchants with a tool to expand to additional customers and markets without building a new store.

“The addition of Chowbotics’s capabilities allows us to enhance our broad array of merchant services – which include customer acquisition, on-demand delivery, insights and analytics, and white-label order fulfilment – and in a more cost-effective way,” said DoorDash general manager, Penn Daniel, in his blog post announcement.

Under its new leadership, DoorDash plans to scale the Chowbotics offering and looks to increase support to big and small restaurants and provide consumers with local access to healthy meals.