RoboBurger Promises Robot-Made Burgers in 7 Minutes or Less
While vending machines can dispense warm food items, RoboBurger is taking the concept one step further. This all-in-one fridge, griddle and cleaning device will take your order, cook your burger from scratch and deliver it in about 7 minutes -- all without a human to take your order, man the grill or serve it to you.
"We're not we're not here to really replace the service industry," CEO Audley Wilson said. "We're really here to supplement its needs, and we provide a hot, high protein burger in places where no one else can. So it's not really here to replace the lunch rush. It's here to just get you a burger at convenient locations when you need it."
RoboBurger has been in development for 17 years. Its latest prototype has found a home in Newport Centre Mall in Jersey City, N.J. The current burger uses a Pat LaFrieda beef patty and Martin's potato roll. It can dispense melted cheese, ketchup or mustard on request. The device is certified by the National Sanitary Foundation (NSF) according to U.S. food safety regulations.
WIlson sees it as an opportunity to help the service industry which has been struggling with staffing issues since the pandemic began, as well as provide other higher-paying jobs in the area, including robotics-based jobs. In addition, it needs maintenance staff to run the machines.
"We have our manufacturing arm which is based in New York. and what we do is we build our units," he said. "We source locally, and we hire great employees here in the New York area and teach them how to build robots and be on our operations team."
In the future, it hopes to add more condiments as well as other kinds of proteins, including plant-based meat and chicken burgers. It is aiming for 100 units in use by the end of the year, expanding to thousands starting in 2023.
"We really hope to be one of the largest burger chains in the country," he said.
API platform RapidAPI recently became a unicorn with a $1 billion valuation after raising $150 million in a Series D funding round led by Softbank Vision Two Fund. Microsoft's Venture Fund, M12, and Andreessen Horowitz also participated. RapidAPI says it provides the world's largest API hub which enables millions of developers and companies to build software faster. Iddo Gino, founder and CEO of RapidAPI, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Facebook parent Meta officially has changed it’s ticker symbol from ‘FB’ to ‘META’. Paul Meeks, a portfolio manager, Independent Solutions Wealth Management, and a professor of practice in the Baker School of Business at The Citadel, joined Cheddar News to discuss why the tech giant has had to make big changes to its name, its ticker, and its business plans. "When you see what's happening in digital advertising — and there was a slowdown there even before the threat of a recession, which could cause a even more drastic slowdown next year — they had to pivot," he said. Meeks noted he sees Facebook dominating in the metaverse space going forward — whatever that may end up being.
In a recent Bumble survey, more than a third of respondents revealed that they would be willing to date people in other cities. Shan Boodram, a sex and relationships expert for the app, joined Cheddar News to talk about the long-distance dating trend and tips on how to go about taking part. "I think this is the magic of what we experienced over the past couple of years, is that we have already learned the tools necessary to stay connected with people despite not being able to be close to them," she noted. Boodram also pointed to Bumble's travel mode and using video conferencing in order to ease into such relationships.
On this episode of Cheddar Innovates: CEO of Achieve Life Sciences discusses a new plant-based compound that's being used to fight nicotine addiction; President & CEO OF DiaMedica Therapeutics explains a new ischemic stroke treatment option that expands the window for effective therapy for stroke patients; Cheddar gets a look at Curiosity Stream's 'Asteroid Rush.'
