Kitchen United raises $100M with help from Restaurant Brands International, Kroger
Summary
Ghost kitchen provider Kitchen United (KU) has raised $100 million from a group of high-profile investors including Burger King parent Restaurant Brands International (RBI), grocery giant Kroger and Alimentation Couche-Tard, the owner of Circle K convenience stores.Simon Property Group and former NFL quarterback Peyton Manning also participated in the Series C round, as did a litany of existing investors headlined by GV, the venture capital arm of Google parent Alphabet.The investment brings KUs total fundraising to $175 million and should add considerable momentum to its exponential growth over the past year. "To that end, we are thrilled to partner with leading investors across grocery, convenience, restaurants, malls, packaging, logistics, distribution, automation, and urban and suburban real estate development. The company has kitchen hubs in Kroger stores and has put its Mix system to work in Simon malls, paving the way for potentially hundreds of future KU outlets.Now, more stakeholders appear ready to get in on the action. "We believe this business stands apart from other industry players with its centralized locations, multi-format offerings, experienced management team, and mature technology stack," said CMO Kevin Lewis in a statement. As part of the cash infusion, the company said it will be "evolving" the system for use by RBI brands Burger King and Popeyes as well as other big chains like Chick-Fil-A, Portillos, Panera Bread, Dog Haus, Wingstop and Chilis parent Brinker International.Going forward, Kitchen United will continue to focus on its core markets of Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and Texas, it said, though it also has locations slated for Ohio and Florida.